Me? Fly? Nah
by Crying Ink
Summary: Max goes to Gallagher Academy on a mission to infiltrate the Academy's library of files with so many secrets, hundreds of agents would give their lives to make sure they never saw daylight. So of course Max has to stroll right in! T because I am paranoid
1. Chapter 1

**This is mostly going to be for myself, because what I want is just not out there, so I had to make one! If no one likes, that's okay, just move on to the next story. But I hope you _do _like it.**

**I am really just going to jump right into the story, so don't worry if some things don't make sense, all will be explained. **

**I don't know when exactly it would take place in the Maxride series, and in the Gallagher Girls series it's after the first book. Maybe I'll add the Blackthorne Boys later in the story if I feel like it. Don't count on it though. **

**Disclaimer for the rest of this story: I own absolutely nothing.**

** Otherwise I wouldn't bother writing this, I'd write a REAL this!**

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Max POV

"This sucks," I mumbled. We had been crashing at my mom's place, and so Jeb comes out of no where and starts spewing random words about me going to some preppy school. Well, as you would tell, I wasn't going to take none of it. That was, until he talked in private with my mom, and she 'personally asked' me to do this. I guess it didn't matter what it was, because I had practically already sold my soul to her for a cookie. Well, maybe 2 cookies, but still.

This is what I had been told. I am supposed to get some mucho important files out of some extremely heavily protected place in this school that I have to infiltrate. That is so like me. The all-girls school was actually a spy school, so that part made me slightly rethink the whole preppy-thing. Of course, when I got there, my stereotype was confirmed as I saw girls walking around in nice sweaters and skirts. There was no way I could pull that off.

Now back to the present.

Jeb was driving me here, and we had just pulled up. He had personally made arrangements with the headmistress so that I could have my own room so no one would have to see my, ahem, wings. Jeb told her about my wings- otherwise, how else was I supposed to be accepted into a spy school if nothing comes up in their internet search for my name? They won't come up with any test results from the School, I'm sure. Well, not the type they were looking for. Headmistress Morgan was sworn to secrecy, supposedly, but I mean she's a _spy; _she was probably lying through her teeth. I guess it doesn't matter, because I still got accepted, so I'm still going. I am probably going to have to sneak out at night if I want to visit the flock though, so that might be difficult. But I'm up to the challenge.

"Ready?" Jeb asked, parking. I scowled, and he sighed. He opened his door, and I got out too, pulling my bag with me.

"Hello, you must be Mr. Batchelder," said a nice looking lady. She was a taller than me, and very headmistress-yy looking. That's probably because she _was _the headmistress.

"Ah, hello Ms. Morgan. I hope our arrival was convenient?" When they finished with the small talk, we started walking toward the school.

"All arrangements for Miss Ride-"I cut her off.

"It's Max." She looks me in the eyes, sort of evaluating. I look right back, and we have a stare down sort of thing until she looks away.

"Max, then. Well, everything is ready, so all she needs to do is take her bags to her room. I can have my daughter show her around," she looked over her shoulder to where two girls were walking a few paces behind us. The blond one looked up at her, and they both walked forward.

"Hi, I'm Cammie, and you can call me Cam," she stuck out her hand, and I looked at it.

"Max," just as she was about to pull her hand away, I shook it. Cammie blinked.

"I'm Macey," said the other girl. She was really pretty, with eyes a lot like Angel's and dark hair that I would kill for- and I'm not even that girly. Jeb patted me on the back, and walked off. I think he muttered something like 'Knock em dead,' and I hoped he didn't mean that literally. I nodded, and noticed Jeb and Ms. Morgan had walked off. It didn't really matter; I didn't feel the need to say goodbye to Jeb.

"So," said Cammie. "Do you want us to show you around or just go put your stuff in your room?"

"Room. Definitely," I said. There was no need to see everything that I knew was just a fake, a cover of what was really there.

"Do we have to go back to your car and get your stuff?" Macey asked. I shook the one bag I was carrying.

"Got it all right here," she raised her eyebrows incredulously, and I rolled my eyes. So she was one of _those _girls. Ah well, not everyone is as perfect as I am. PS that was total sarcasm. Cammie nodded, smiling slightly at Macey's expression, and we started walking down the way we came.

"So," Cammie said after a pause. "Where are you from?"

"Arizona," I answered. And we were silent for a while more.

"You'll like it here," Macey said suddenly; I guess she was taking a guess at what caused my silence. I smiled wryly.

"I seriously doubt that." Then I sighed.

"What's the story? Dad forced you?" She prompted.

"Mom. Bribed me with a cookie," I tried to make conversation, and I think I utterly failed. Yeah.

"How long have you two been here?" I ask. Cam shrugs.

"Since 7th grade," Cam answers. "Semester," Macey adds. We were almost to the top of a flight of stairs now, and I had to admit that it was all extremely shmancy looking, and not even in a bad way. "It's just down the hall now," Cam informed me. There were numbered doors on either sides of me, sort of like a hotel or apartment. We stopped in front of one, and Cam opened it with a small key that she then handed to me. "Don't loose it," she warned, and I almost laughed. Has she even _met _me?

I walked into the room and flipped on a switch. There were other beds in here, but all were vacant.

"How come you got a room to yourself?" Macey asked. As if I was going to tell her.

"I have my ways," I smile-smirked, something I had been picking up from Iggy, and dropped my bag onto my bed. Now they both were looking at me like Ms. Morgan had, calculating, assessing. Actually, that's how I had been looking at them this whole time. Personally? They look like two daffodils. And usually spies weren't given the code-name daffodil. Well, actually, maybe they do. How should I know? Maybe it was supposed to mislead people. But if you have a code name at all, I mean…

"Thanks a bunch," I said, looking around at my room. Really, they need to get some new interior designers. Not that I'm usually so picky- it's a good competitor with one of my latest places that I stopped to rest, also known as The Ground. Must be all this girly-ness wearing off on me, though I've been here for what, 7 minutes? And talked to exactly two girls. _Some excuse Max, _I thought. Internal snorting.

"We'll let you get settled," Cam said, and I nodded, and they closed the door behind them.

"So what do you think?" I heard Macey ask, and wished they'd get out of my excellent hearing range before they started gossiping. Whatever. I flopped onto my bed, and blew air out of my cheeks. What was the point in this again? Oh yea, favor for Jeb. Couldn't he ask Nudge? She was old enough. But _no, _since Max has to save the world, she has to do everything leading up to that too. I don't even know if this even relates to that. _Everything has a purpose, Max. _

_Hello, Voice. Nice of you to stop by. Now don't let the door hit you where the good lord split you. _

_There is no mind-door Max. _

_I don't care, you get the point! Or is it to cryptic for you to understand? _Internal dialogue with someone other than yourself sure was annoying sometimes. Oh yea, all the time. Oh yea, most people didn't have someone other than themselves internally. Big sigh.

Cammie POV

We were all sitting down, waiting for dinner. Liz and Bex were sitting opposite me, and Bex was filling us all in about her terrifying and awesome winter break, and Macey was telling Liz about Max. My view on Max was… I don't know. I just don't know what to make of her. Her family are obviously not spies, but she is no McHenry, and she doesn't look like anyone in Liz's category, so what was she? Why did she get in? There's a reason; Gallagher Academy do _not _just accept random people and hope that they keep our secret. There was something different about Max; not just that she got accepted, but in the way she looks. She her back is as straight as a board, it's like there's something pressed against it. And, her eyes are really sort of mistrustful and defiant, and her face looks extremely suntanned. The whole effect is… weird.

"Hello girls!" Mom said from the staff table. "Hope you all had a great vacation. Today we are greeting a new student, Maximum Ride. Please stand up, Miss Ride." Down the table from us, I saw Max stand. She had a slightly grumpy look on her face, and I wondered why. Mom nodded, and she sat back down in a hurry.

"You are all to welcome her; she is now one of us. That is all," The moment she sat down, the dead silence erupted into people talking.

"So, you met Max already?" Bex asked me, glancing at where Max sat with a scowl on her face and an overly piled plate. Obviously she had not been listening to Macey and Liz's conversation.

"Yea," I started eating. It's the best food in any school, and that's not just my opinion; its fact. "I showed her to her room. Me and Mace."

"Can you believe it?" Macey cut in. "She got her own room. How'd she manage that?"

"Really?" Bex asked, and she frowned. No one in the entire Gallagher Academy had their own room; no one until now. Everyone wanted one though- well, maybe not everyone, but we all knew Macey needed her own closet. Like serious drastic need. "Hm…"

"I wonder what classes she'll be in," Liz said absentmindedly.

"Probably the same ones as Mace." Macey had been put back a few grades because of her newbie status, so I'm guessing Max will be as well. Unless she has some history with some _other _spy school, which I am going to say she hasn't.

"We'll have to see tomorrow," we all looked over at Max, who saw us and gave us a withering look. Whatever that means. She's really not normal- which is saying something, because we go to a _spy school_. Yeah.

Maximum Ride. Interesting name.

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**So**

**That was my first chapter; all the rest will be longer. I'm planning on updating 2x a week, probably only going to be once a week though, if Im lucky.**

**Did you like it? If you did, I would Love, with a capotol L, a review. Not so much a flame, but I'll have to get used to it. **

**I'm not going to do Cammie's POV so much, just sometimes when I feel like its appropriate.**

**SO**

**REVIEW ! Please? **

-**Laila**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's the second chapter! Thanks you, Hannah, for being the first reviewer EVER. That makes you all the more awesome.**

**Okay, so I decided that I am going to be following the plot line, in the beginning only, of book 2.**

**Oh yea, and that's the only book I have right now, so if some things are incorrect, really really sorry!**

**Disclaimer: Me? Own this? Nah.**

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Max POV

I liked my room. It was extremely quiet. The sound of screaming, snoring, and talking bird kids was missing. That was also sort of a bad thing. It has been 6 days since I got here, I was getting completely paranoid that something had happened to them, and that meant I was really jumpy. When am I not, though?

Looking at my schedule, I was glad that Jeb had gotten me into some of the more advanced classes, because frankly I wasn't in the mood to learn how to flip someone _again. _ I said not in the mood to _learn_, but I was fine with actually flipping someone. Something to take my mind of the flock, you know? And plus, its fun.

Which was why I challenged Bex soon as we walked into P.E, or whatever they called it here.

I'm sorry! But I couldn't help the challenge. Not that anyone was challenging me, I just… I just felt like it. Yep, that's me. I do what I feel, _and no one can stop me!_ Sarcasm.

Everyone had started placed their bets on why I had a death wish and Bex had warned me, sort of shaking her head at my naivety, and I had just laughed it off. Now, Bex was lying on the floor, the breath knocked out of her, staring in shock- along with all the other girls that were watching.

"What in the…" She trailed off, muttering, and picked herself off the ground. It didn't matter that she muttered, with my hearing, I still heard her. I always imagined what a bunch of swear words sounded like when they were said in a British accent. Now I know.

"Good fight," I said, trying to make everyone blink, feeling slightly self conscious of all the staring. Of course, only slightly. Why should I be ashamed for taking down the best-in-year? Oh yea, because I was supposed to be acting like a normal person. In a way, I was already a spy. Cool.

"How did you do that?" Asked one girl, whose name started with a T.

"Do what?" I said.

"It was like…" She shook her head.

"Hm," I said, and then continued on with my day.

As you could probably tell, that little event did not go without notice. Soon, everyone was looking at me out of the corner of their eye, and I was seriously regretting the little performance.

"Hey Max?" It was a girl named… Um. No, not Um, I just can't remember! Gosh.

"Hi," I said, kept on walking, and she walked next to me.

"Is it true that you totally threw Bex across the room because she insulted your hair?" Well, she was frank.

"No!" Like I cared about my hair. Sheesh. "You need to stop listening to rumors."

"I doubted that too. I mean, your hair looks great, and Bex isn't that rude. But what _did _happen?"

"Um-"

"Max! C'mon, tell me! You know, we were all wondering about you, and how you even got into this school. Some people said that your uncle was part of MI6, but others were like 'no way,' so everyone started thinking you were some secret agent from Switzerland, who is here to look for a rouge who escaped here, and became a teacher, and everyone started believing it, because Mr. Mosckowits started looking at you funny." So _that _was why he scowled whenever he looked at me! I wondered what his problem was… "But, I said that that was incredibly stupid- you're too young to be an agent! And as if Mr. Mosckowits has ever done anything to upset Switzerland in his life. So then, Tina started telling everyone that you-"I stopped in my tracks and clamped my hand over her mouth. Jeez, she was as bad as Nudge.

"Who would even _think_ that?" I wondered out loud. I mean me? Spy from Switzerland? I wasn't that organized.

"Um, we all were thinking it at one time, but you know-"

"Shhh! Why didn't you just ask me where I am from?" This question was so obvious, and I could see her reaction from the 'Duh!' moment spread across her face. It was pretty funny.

"So where are you from?" I rolled my eyes.

"Arizona."

"No, really. And where did you learn how to flip Bex?" Well, as if I was going to tell her that I knew all these moves from fighting Erasers three times my size.

"I took karate." She looked at me with an _are-you-serious _expression. I laughed, and walked off.

"Max! Stop doing that!" I stopped again, and sighed, breathing deeply.

"What?"

"Running away! So, did you _really _throw Bex across the room?"

"No, not that far," Then I walked away again, leaving her staring after me. Of _course _she came after me.

"I forgot to introduce myself. Hi, I'm Evelia Alvarez. You can call me Ev. Or Eve. Or Eva. Whatever you prefer." I chuckled, but was glad she had dropped the subject.

"I'm Max Ride." We shook hands, and then walked off to lunch together, and I sort of got used to her. She wasn't so bad.

So I got a new friend, and learned that everyone thought that I was some spy from Switzerland. You win some, you lose some. Actually, if I was a spy, that would be pretty awesome. So, bonus!

Down the table, I could see Cammie and Co. I like that name, Cammie and Co. Anyways. Cammie and Co (Hehe) had all been acting very oddly recently; and I'm sure its not just about me. Strange.

"So, who do you room with?" Ev asked conversationally. I shrugged.

"No one. Got a room all to myself," She stared at me. "What?" Was it _that_ rare?

"Lucky," said one of Ev's friends, Katy, who exchanged a look with Ev's _other _friend, JJ. I liked JJ. She was cool.

"Um," how was I supposed to respond to that? _That's me. Lucky Max. _Or, _Well, when you have wings, the sky is the limit. Not even then. _Ha-ha, flying metaphor. Or whatever it would be called.

"Forget about it," Ev said, and she continued eating her salad- of which I had gotten twice as much. The food here was really top notch. Like _yum. _

"I share with five other people, including Kat and JJ," Ev informed me, rolling her eyes, and I gave her a sympathetic look. As sympathetic as I could manage, being me.

"And I have to share with _Ev. _Ugh," Katy said sarcastically, and Ev elbowed her while Katy smirked. I chuckled, and stopped talking because food was entering my mouth.

"Do you like having your own room?" Kat asked. I shrugged, still eating. "I think I would be too lonely," Exactly how I feel without the flock. But I'll deal. "Maybe I can arrange for you to board in our room. It wouldn't be to har-" I cut her off quickly.

"I am _fine _with my room, thank you." Kat was just as talkative as Ev. I saw why they were friends.

"Don't scare her off to quickly," JJ warned, and I almost burst out laughing. Me? Be scared by them? Didn't it usually work like this; See Max. Run screaming. And aren't _they _were the ones who thought _I_ was a Swiss spy?

Heh, guess protocols have changed since I was last in contact with people. Or maybe these girls were just too isolated from the real world to realize that there is a possibility that the girl sitting next to you is an Avian American, created by a bunch of wack-job scientists. Hey that's an appropriate name. I am going to call the white coats Wack-Jobs from now on.

That night I decided that taking out my anxiety by beating people up was probably not advisable to do every time I'm nervous. But hey, how should I know? I'm no psychologist. Well, anyways, I wanted to sneak out to visit the flock. About time. Before I left, we made plans on them crashing nearby, and mom arranged it so that they could like on the edge of that _extremely _small town without getting noticed. And I found a way out; Ev told me theres a passage out of school that would drop you right in the middle of Roseville. She showed me it, in the Hall of History, and I was confident that I could find it in the dark.

I silently slipped on my boots, and threw on a jacket before creeping out the door. It was around 1 in the morning, and pitch black. My eyesight was pretty good, so I didn't trip on the stairs, but I didn't miss every creak in the floor. Ah well.

When I was almost there, I heard four sets of footsteps padding quietly down the hall. _Oh God! _If I was caught, I was dead meat. The footsteps stopped, and I backed against the wall, freezing and hoping whoever it was wouldn't see me.

"Got it," that was Bex. So that meant that… were the other three people Cammie and Co? Most likely. I heard a door swing open, and the dark figures were peering around inside the door. Why couldn't they just go in and let me leave!

"They look like..." Yep it was definitely Cammie and Co. "Suites."

"You know what this means?" GO INSIDE THE ROOM! I shouted in my head, willing that I would suddenly develop powers like Angel's. Unluckily, I didn't. There was something muttered that I couldn't hear.

"Yeah,"Bex. _Lea_ve_! _"And we're going to get a rematch." And then they stopped talking, and I hoped that they were going to go back the way they came. What would they do if they saw me? If they reported me, I would tell on them. I'm not above that. But Cammie would get off, because she is the principal's daughter. All I knew for sure was that this was a _very _bad position to be in. And then I saw one of the girls stiffen, and it became worse.

"Whose there," Bex called. I fought my instinct to just walk away quietly, and stayed put.

"What, Bex?" Liz asked.

"There's someone there. Can't you see them?" I thought I was the only one who could see in this pitch black. You learn something new everyday.

"Hello?" Cam called out. _Leeeeeeeeaaaaaave! _

"Liz, you got the flashlight?" I heard a fumbling. I was busted. Ah well, it was probably bound to happen any minute. The light flashed against the ceiling, and then focused on me, and I held my hand in front of my face to cover the blinding glare.

"Hello girls," I said calmly, taking a step away from the wall.

"Is that you, Max?" Macey asked.

"Who else?" Well, I bet there was a whole bunch of people they were expecting, and none of them were me.

"What are you doing out at night?"

"Could ask you the same thing. How about you guys leave, and I'll be on my way?" I saw them exchange glances. I missed being able to do that with people. (*Cough* Fang *cough*)

"Were not going anywhere unless you tell us what you're up to," Cam said sternly. I bet they were all thinking that their theory on me being a spy was now confirmed. As if people didn't sneak out all the time. Pfft.

"Well, I'm not telling you." They all walked over to me, and Liz shined her light in my face. "Cut that out!"

"Oopsy daisies," she lowered the flashlight. Hah, Oopsy daisies? "But really, what _are _you doing out here?"

"What are _you _doing out here?" Even if I wasn't going to see my flock, I wouldn't have told them that I was sneaking out. Then they would just be suspicious because I knew how to get out in the first place. Sigh.

"We were checking out what was in the east wing," Macey says automatically. "Now tell us where you were going. Fair is fair." Where have I heard _that _before? I believe my response had been somewhat violent.

"Not telling. I'm going back to bed," I tried to walk off, but Liz caught my arm. What was with these girls? It was none of their business! But even though I couldn've flipped Liz down the hall like a rag doll (not joking, the girl is as small as Gazzy!), I didn't. No need for them to hate me more than they did.

"Where not letting you go, so just tell us," Macey said.

"No."

"Max!" Liz whined, and I rolled my eyes.

"Liz!" I mocked her. "No way, no how. Leave me alone, I'm going to bed."

"Is it really so secret that you can't tell us?" Bex asked.

"Um, its so secret that I had to sneak out in the middle of the night to do it, so I'm going to say yes." I heard Cam puff air out of her cheeks.

"Why were you in the Hall of History?" Liz asked. "Theres nothing down there."

"Yes there is," Cam pointed out. This was totally not on my agenda. "There's a passage that leads out to Roseville. I used it before," She exchanged glances with Macey. Let. Me. Go! I screamed in my head.

"Leave me alone, of course I wasn't trying to get out!

"Yes, you were," Bex said. "You're wearing combat boots. You _were _planning to get out!" I cursed inside my head. How in the world did that girl have such great eyesight?

"So what if I was?" I hissed indifferently.

"So you _are _a spy from Switzerland!" Liz said, and Macey wacked her. It would have been funny if there was not the very present possibility that they would inform Ms. Morgan on my attempt to escape.

"Of course I am not!" Was everyone so stupid? "Now let. Me. Go," I filled my whispers with fury, and Liz dropped my arm.

"I still want to know what you were doing out," Macey hissed at me, but I wasn't paying attention to her. What if fate was keeping me from my flock because something bad had happened? What if they had never made it? What if… Oh no, now I'm becoming even _more _paranoid than when I set out. This sucks. But what _if _something bad had happened? What if they had had to run off while I was sitting on my butt in the lap of luxury? Oh no…

"Max, you're muttering," Liz informed me. Oh, that's bad.

"Sorry," I hissed, then turned and ran off as loudly as I dared. Ugh. I pushed open my door, and stepped inside, locking it behind me.

Well that was a failure. I sighed, like I've been doing a lot lately, and took off my sweater, letting my wings spread out on my bed. That felt better. A lot better. Imagine having to keep your hands perfectly flat and your fingers smushed tightly together for a whole day. Sure, it doesn't feel like that hard, but you have to keep in mind that this is going on for 18 hours, and you have to concentrate to not make your fingers relax. Not so easy now, is it?

So now I was _extremely _nervous about the flock, and also wondering if _everyone _here was so suspicious of me. Probably. But what would happen if this turned into a serious problem? Would I get kicked out? It would probably be a relief, actually. I had spoken to exactly seven people since getting here, unless you counted teachers, which I don't.

So I stared at the ceiling for the longest of times before I realized I was asleep.

But the next morning I realize exactly what Cammie and Co had been referring to when I heard them talk in the dark hall.

I was sitting next to Ev, JJ, and Kat, all eating our waffles, and I was listening to them speaking German and tried to decipher the odd word. And then all of a sudden Ms. Morgan stood up and went toward the podium.

"Excuse me, ladies, but I have an announcement to make." And the doors of the back of the room opened. Everyone's head turned suddenly, looking, and I could hear silverware clatter as a whole bunch of boys walked in. I thought it was the most hilarious thing ever. I was to busy trying to stop from bursting out in uncontrollable laughter to listen to what Ms. Morgan was saying. Something about learning from one another. Puh-lease. Did she not notice the unanimous head turn? I swear, it looks like they've never seen a boy before. Hey, maybe they haven't, who am I to judge? I looked back at Ms. Morgan, trying to stop my smirk.

"…Dr. Steve," an short guy said into the microphone. **(And I don't have anything against short people! I am one, after all...)**

"Excuse me?" Ms. Morgan asked, seeming stunned. The look on her face...

"Call me Dr. Steve," He punched his fist into the air. This was _the_ most amusing meal I have ever eaten in my life. Well, not the most, but it's up there.

"Of course," she continued. "Dr Steve and his students will be spending the remainder of the semester with us." A whole bunch of girls started whispering. Seriously people? "They will be attending your classes and eating with you at your meals. Ladies, this is a wonderful opportunity, and I hope you will use this time to forge bonds of friendship that you can carry throughout your lives."

"I wouldn't mind being bonded to him," Ev said, looking at a boy at the edge of the group who was leaning on the table. JJ shoved her, and I chortled into my orange juice.

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**Okay guys, so I know how I said not to count on there being Blackthorne boys, but I think it will be harder for her to get her goal if they are there because, lets face it, we all know they are better spies than Cammie and Co. I like that name. And no offense to Gallagher girls.**

**I really didn't want to do it, because I thought that the whole plot of book two was rubbish, but I felt I had to.**

**So sorry if you don't think so.**

**HEY**

**I need your opinion on this**

**I was typing right? And so I tried to type 'smirked' but I was thinking 'smiled' so I came out with "Smirled". Once I wrote it, I started thinking that it sounded like a real word, but it wasn't. What do you guys think?**

**Oh, and last but not least, REVIEW! Please? Pretty please with sugar on top?**

**'The physical appearance of the please does not change the answer. It is still no.' (that's said by Gru in Despicable Me. That was a cute movie.)**

**So tell me what you think! Please! Or if you want to point something out that I need to improve on, I am all ears. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello! Heres the next chapter; and to everyone who reviewed, Thanks! With a capotol T! And I am bearing all the reviews in mind, don't worry. So, here goes!**

**Disclaimer: Me; Hey Max?**

**Max: Yeah?**

**Me: Could you pass me the scissors?**

**Max: No way!**

**Me: Why not?**

**Max: You don't own me!**

**I don't own Maximum Ride….. But I DO Own Camm-no I don't own her either. I don't own anything. : (**

**Enjoy!**

That next day was the first day I had Covert Operations class. Ms. Morgan had decided that I should be placed there, and so I was. I completely hated the idea. More work.

After lunch, I started walking down the corridor that led to the ultra-secret entrance to Sublevel 1. I couldn't help thinking that, even though they were all spies, they did a terrible job of keeping secrets. I mean, I had practically just gotten there, and then "Oh, would you like to see where we keep all the secrets that Gallagher Academy had accumulated over a hundred years? It's right this way." Jeez. Well, it's not _exactly _the same place where they keep all their top docs, but its close enough.

There were footsteps from behind me, and then Cammie and Bex came out of nowhere, and linked their arms through mine so I couldn't escape. Haha, no, I meant so I couldn't escape without hurting someone.

"Hello Max," Cam said.

"How are you today?" Bex asked.

"You are fine," I answered sarcastically. "What are you two doing?"

"Why all the suspicion? We just wanted to walk with you to class," Cam said innocently. I narrowed my eyes.

"_Sure_." I stressed the 'u'. "So, what do you want?'

"No fooling you, huh?" Cam said sarcastically. "You still haven't told us what you were doing during a certain… outing," she said, changing her wording due to the sounds of other people entering the corridor. Did they think that persistent bugging would result in me spilling? Probably, otherwise they would have changed their tactic. Maybe I should just make something up, lie. But right now I couldn't think of a scenario that didn't have a loophole somewhere.

"Um, mind leaving me alone?" I asked in my obviously-not-polite-but-please-humor-me-I-said-please tone. (That whole tone was incredibly long. Too bad.)

"Can't," Bex replied shortly. I wondered if she had gotten over me absolutely decking her last week. (*Smirks internally*)

"Oh look," I point out a window, and they both glanced over, and I shook my arms free and walked faster away. How could they fall for the oldest trick in the book?

"Hey Max," Bex caught up to me. "Would you like to go with us to the movies on Saturday?" Saturday the school was having a… I don't know what they would call it, but they're taking the vans packed with Gallagher Girls and setting them loose on the town. Sorry, I mean, taking us for a field trip. Yeah.

"Um," I hadn't been expecting the whole change of topic. "Well," I muttered as we kept walking. I had sort of planned to meet the flock then, but I couldn't be completely rude and just say _no. _Well, I mean, I _could, _but that would probably hurt someone's feeling, and you know me, when it comes to feelings I'm a freaking _princess_. Even if it was probably just to find out what I was doing, which they_ are. _It 's obvious to an overly elite spy like me. Sarcasm. "What time?"

"'Round one thirty," Cam answered. Ooh, that would be cutting the flock meeting a little close. I sighed, puffing air out of my cheeks. It's a habit of mine.

"What are we watching?" Bex said some name that I had never heard in my life. Of course I hadn't! I didn't have time to watch commercials in my old running-from-Erasers lifestyle.

"Fine," I snapped, and I saw them both exchanging looks. It was obvious they didn't think that I would agree, but I'm not _that _anti-social. Am I? No I don't think so. Now we were at the extremely top secret and cool looking entrance, and Cam showed me how it worked so that I wouldn't be stuck out here, trying to get in and missing class, for the next hour or so.

When we got off the elevator, Mr. Solomon **(A/N its funny, because I had a teacher who married a Mr. Solomon. Hmm….) **, who I was still thinking could be an Eraser, just told us all to go back and out to the vans. What a waste of elevator power.

Ev was babbling in my ear the entire way there, and then we were loaded into the back of a van and locked in. _Oh no, _I had forgotten my claustrophobia for a minute. Yeah, don't make _me_ a spy, I don't have what it takes to sit in the back of a van stuffed with a whole bunch of other spy girls/guys. Even if it was a pretty spacious van, no way no how. I don't like playing sardine. It was like there wasn't enough air… No Max, there is no way you are going to have a panic attack infront of all these people. Still, I kept on twitching.

"What's wrong, Max?" Ev whispered into my ear. She doesn't let anything past her, that one.

"Nothing," I hissed back. She gave me a worried look, and then we went back to listening to Mr. Steve's babbling.

"You ladies need to pay attention to this man," he said, pointing at Solomon. "He's a living legend."

"Just as long as you remember the most important part of that is the _living,_" Joe Solomon replied. I'm going to call him Joey.

The van halted, and then turned down the road outside the gates. _Don't scream Max. _

_Hi voice. It's nice to see you again. Well, hear. Its not like I can see you… Oh yea, I'm babbling. Must be this whole small spaces thing. I wonder how high someone would rate my case. It must be pretty bad, because I'm turning into Nudge. _

_Max, don't worry, everything is going to be fine._

_The way you say that is like you are trying to avoid the obvious, which is that this is _not _totally fine. Absolutely not. _

_Don't scream, Max, _it said again. How infuriating.

"Today's all about the basics, ladies and gentlemen," Joey said, and I tried to block out that extremely unhelpful Voice. "I want to watch you move; see you work together. Pay attention to your surroundings, and remember- half of your success in this business comes from looking like you belong, so today your cover is that you're a bunch of private school students enjoying a town trip. Just like you would this weekend," Joey said, looking around at all of us. All those things he said made this entire trip sounded really cool, like we were spies in a movie about espionage or whatever you call it. Maybe we were.

"What are we really?" Bex asked.

"A bunch of spies, playing tag." Joey said. Tag? What? He pulled out a quarter and flipping it. I wondered if there was a gumball machine in this car…. "Brush pass, Ms. Baxter, define it," Joey asked.

"The act of covertly passing an object between two agents," Bex said automatically. I saw people exchange glances.

"Correct."

"That's like the easiest thing we can do," Ev muttered in my ear. I guess it did sound easy; especially if it was something as small as a quarter.

"The little things can get away from you ladies and gentlemen. The little things matter," It was almost as if he had heard Ev's comment. Maybe he had. Mr. Steve started saying something, but Joey plowed right over him.

"Its you and the streets today. It may be low tech, but this is trade craft material at its most essential." Yep, just like a movie. Especially when he pulled out a box that revealed communication units and little camera pin things. Ooh, this was getting exciting.

"Watch, listen, remember to communicate. Observe." I pinned on my things, and stuck the comm in my ear. "Blend in," Joey ordered. "We're watching the whole thing."

I jumped out of the van as soon as the doors were opened. It won't be that hard, I'm sure. But Joey started asking observation questions as we walked around, and I was relieved that he didn't ask me anything. I couldn't remember the color of my shoes. Roseville was a nice town, though. It had a certain… _je ne sais quoi. _Look at me, using French.

I wandered around, listening to Joey instruct people to pass the coin. I stared at the sky, wishing I had a chance to fly around. My wings really ached these days, and its not like I could fly out the dorm window with all those cameras, plus there's not a window in my room. Suddenly I saw a _certain _blond little girl with a _certain _blond little boy sitting on the edge of a fountain licking ice cream cones, while a _certain_- you get it. Angel, Gazzy, Nudge, and Ig were lounging around the square, not knowing that I was on an uber-cool 'mission.' Then Nudge turned around at her seat on a bench, and saw me.

"Oh my gosh! Hi Ma…..?" She trailed off as I frantically gestured for her to be quiet and pointing at my little comm. set. She looked at me for a moment as though I was a raving lunatic, then got the point. I took off my pin and shoved it in my pocket, then put my thumb over the microphone part of the comm. so that I could still hear if it was my turn to do the Shove pass, or whatever it was called.

"Hello Max, Angel said, not surprised at all. I guess she would've known that I was coming, reading my mind and all.

"Ms. Walters, pass to Ms. Alvarez,"Joey said in my ear, and I was sure somewhere in this little town Ev and Tina were passing the coin. "Ms. Ride, what are you doing?" Joey hissed, obviously realizing that my camera and head set weren't broadcasting anymore.

"Hi Max!" Gazzy said. "We've missed you." And though I was totally touched to hear that, I was freaking out that Joey would use one of his spy-things to find out _my _secret identity. That makes it sound so cool, but really its not.

"Max has to go," Angel informed them, and Nudge's face literally fell (Metaphorically, of course.) Ugh, I _really_, wanted to talk to them, and wanted to know where Fang was, and I also just wanted to hug them all because after not being with them for like _three _weeks, it was really anxiety-making, or whatever, but I also didn't want Joey to rat me out to Ms. M, who would probably spill what I was, and I also didn't want the whole school thinking I was a Swiss spy. _We can't get everything we want, Max, _Voice said. I sighed.

"Max?" Iggy asked from the bench next to Nudge, looking over in our general direction.

"Hey Ig. How's it going?"

"Not so great, Max, not so great."

"Don't tell her, Ig," I heard Nudge hiss, and I immediately picked up that something was wrong. Seriously wrong. But I couldn't find out now, because now Joey was muttering into my ear to put the camera back on _now_.

"Max has something to do," Angel repeated.

"Sorry guys, school stuff. Or, Jeb stuff," I corrected, talking a little faster than usual. "See you on Saturday."

"Huh," Ig muttered. "Max, you got to know, Jebs a little impatient," he called after me as I paced away. I waved my free hand in acknowledgment.

"He'll get over it," I called.

"A _lot _impatient!" He amended, and I walked off, taking my finger off the mic, and re-pinning the pin onto my sweater. I sat down on a bench, dropping my bag.

"Bye Max!" Gazzy and Nudge called, while Angel only waved.

"Ms. Ride, what _were _you doing?" Joey hissed in my headset. I sighed in relief, because he hadn't heard my conversation through my thumb.

"Nothing," I answered coolly.

"This is unacceptable."

"Yep," I said, and heard him sigh. No one gets answers out of _the _Maximum Ride!

"Ms. Alvarez, to Ms. Ride," He commanded, and I saw Ev walk toward me, and she dropped the coin into my bag as she walked by.

"There's an ATM behind you, Ms. Alvarez. ATMs equals cameras. Tighten it up, ladies."

"Solomon's good," I heard Whatchyacallhim say, and then I zoned out while people had their conversations. Until Bex started walking toward me.

"Ride, pass it to Ms. Baxter." People irritate me when they only use my last name. I mean, really, it's seriously _annoying. _Anyways, how was I going to do this? I could just pass it hand-to-hand like we've all seen in the movies… I started flipping the coin.

"Bex, scratch your eyebrow," I muttered into the comm. She did, lifting her arm up, and I was relieved otherwise my plan wouldn't have worked. I flipped the coin a _little_ too hard, and it landed inside the edge of Bex's sleeve as she walked by.

"Impressive, Ms. Ride," Joey said grudgingly. "But it could've been more discreet."

"You know it was awesome, Joey," I said, grinning at the praise. Negatives don't register in my vocabulary.

"Joey?" I heard Ev ask.

"Genius, right?" I said, and smirked when I heard her chuckle along with a couple other people. And then I smiled again when Joey sighed irritably. I could practically _feel _the loathing he was emitting toward me. Really, a spy like him should have more patience. But I've been told by certain people (*cough* Iggy *cough*) that my voice is the most annoying droll in the world/s. I sometimes have that effect on people.

When we got back to school, Joey watched me as JJ, Ev, and I all walked back to the building. He was probably going to say something about my little disappearance to Ms. M, or look at the empty file with my name on it. I felt so smug.

Ev was still chortling about my little nickname for Mr. Solomon.

"Its just because," She explained, "He's the sort of person that no one makes fun of, and the sort of person who hates being called Joey. " I rolled my eyes at her idiocy as we walked over to Katy at the dinner table. Tonight was some _extremely _delicious looking food. I took three servings of everything, because for some reason, even though I haven't been able to fly for forever_, _I still burn calories like mad.

Actually, I think this was the longest time I've gone without flying. And it is on the list for the places I have stayed at the longest; it's been almost a month now. Wow, that went by fast.

"Max, there's going to be trouble for that," JJ warned as we sat down.

"Trouble for what?" Katy asked around a mouth stuffed with food, and Ev explained to her what had happened. She snorted and rolled her eyes at me.

"That is _so _stupid, Max," she chuckled.

"But what if-"

"Joey'll get over it JJ, don't worry," I said, and Ev started laughing into her water. Darn, should've gotten that on camera. But seriously, what was so funny?

"Max, its not about the nickname, its about _you, _taking off your camera and mic in the middle of a CoveOps assignment! You just don't do that."

"As if Joey is going to get angry about that," I scoffed. These girls obviously know no rebellion.

"So why is he glaring at you?" We all looked up to the staff table, and sure enough, Joey was staring at me with what some people may called a casual, serene expression.

"Um, JJ, that's not a glare," I pointed out.

"Sure it is. Look at his eye brows, his jaw; it's definitely a glare," Katy explained. Sure, if you squinted your right eye, then your left, and if the lighting was _just _right, as in put a flashlight under his face… Yep, a glare!

"I have that effect on people," I humored her.

"Whatever, Max, but keep in mind that everyone thinks you sabotaged your equipment and went off during that two-minute stretch of time to do something totally Swiss-spy worthy."

"Ugh!" I yelled, and everyone stared at me. Whoops, I overreacted. Didn't change the point; which was that no one could cut me some slack! I hate rumors. Can't a bird kid live in peace once in a while?

"Night," I said, though it was only like _6, _and then jumped up and literally ran out of the hall and was halfway up the stairs before I slowed down.

This whole thing is extremely annoying. Why was I even doing this for Jeb? What has he done for me, or the flock? Nothing, that's what. (Well, recently anyways) And there had been something _very _wrong with the (4/6) flock today. And no doubt it was originated from the devil himself. And I didn't even _know _what was in this file I was playing ordinary for. Why should I care about it? I shouldn't.

Listen to me, being all self pitying.

And why did Joey hate me so much?

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**So that was the next chapter! I know that some of these chapters might not be exactly perfect, but I really am trying to get the story moving on to the more interesting part. **

**Hope you liked! Just want to tell you that I am following the plot of book 2 until the ball/dance thing (Which obviously Max wont be going to) where things are going to get much more interesting and exciting. **

**I think this one was more longer than my usual, so yay.**

**Theres going to be more Cammie in the next chapters I hope, especially when... nevermind, I'll let you guys figure that out in later chapters ;) **

**Hey, do you guys think I should have Dylan in my story? (I am not actually going to put him in no matter what you say, because I hate his guts so much ((No offense to Dylan lovers... actually, take much offense.))) Just seeing what you all think.**

**Please review! If you read, you'd better review. You **_**know **_**there is something you want to tell me! Pleeeese! And once again, thanks for everyone who **_**did **_**review, it means the world to me.**

**So don't you want your words to mean the world to me too? Doesn't that make you want to review? Yes it does! You were thinking it….**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey everyone! Sorry I didn't write for two weeks, but I had to go to a conference, and then a rally, and then suffered writing block, and then **_**someone **_**stole my computer for a while. No, not really stealing, I mean sibling rivalry type stealing. Point is- I have no point. But sorry for the wait, and sorry that this chapter isn't actually good enough to wait for, but you guys will JUST HAVE TO DEAL WITH IT.**

**Thanks a bunch to everyone who reviewed, and everyone who just even read this story. It means so much to me that there are people out there who appreciate my writing. **

**This chapter **_**may **_**seem a little random, but I had to write it to fill in the gaps before I get up to the exciting and actually interesting parts. Now that I've gotten this part down, I should be able to write easier so they come up faster, and then we'll get into the whole kidnapping Max part. Did I say kidnapping Max? I mean, Max goes to buy ice cream. Yeah.**

**Disclaimer; Oh, no, there is no ownership to be found here.**

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The movie ended around three thirty. It hadn't been extraordinarily interesting, in my opinion, and it seemed the others didn't think so either.  
"That was completely inaccurate," Bex said the moment we stepped out onto the pavement.  
"Totally agree," JJ said. She had tagged along with me and Cammie & Co, along with that guy I keep forgetting the name of, Grant, and Jonny. I mean, Jonas. Yeah. "It looked like they were a bunch of toddlers having a fist fight. Choreographed, yes, cool looking, yes- ish-, realistic? Not so much."  
"Mmhmm," Liz agreed. I looked over at her; she was texting on a purple phone. Where did she get a _phone_?  
"Hey, where'd Cam and Zach go?" Macey asked. Oh, so _that _was his name. Whoops.

"I'm not sure, but I saw Cammie leave halfway through, " Liz said, looking up.

"Yeah, no one sees Zach go anywhere," Grant says, "He's like a ninja! Only, not."

"Sure_"_ I said.

"Well, we have half an hour before we have to get back to the bus, so where do you all want to go?" JJ asked, looking at her watch. A watch that I was almost positive held a self destruct button with enough power to blow your socks off, among other things. Arms, legs, head, fingernails, etc.

"We're heading in early," Jonas said, indicating himself and Grant. "We'll see you all at dinner, maybe." JJ nodded, they started walking off, and Liz and Bex waved. I almost went back with them, but didn't. For some reason, I don't like Grant, Jonas, and Zebra that much. I mean, Zach. It's just for some reason that I can't quite put my finger on, nothing personal. Actually, yeah, it probably is. They just had this sly look about them. I don't know, maybe I just wasn't the trusting type; actually, I really didn't trust anyone here. Maybe I was just the _paranoid _type. That sounds correct.

"So where do you want to go?" I just wanted to go back to my silent room, and bite my nails. Why? Because, before meeting up for the movies, I spent an hour looking for my flock that was _supposed _to be just sitting on a bench in the square. That was what we had planned. And they weren't there. They weren't anywhere. Where _were _they? There had to have been something wrong, but not serious. Or Jeb would've sent someone to tell me. Unless, it was so bad they had Jeb. Unless it was so bad all communicating devices had been closed to everyone who knew about what had happened. Or it might have been _so _bad, everyone had gotten there tongue chopped out, so they could never tell what had happened.

I am _so _overreacting. But still, I was nervous.

The five of us started walking slowly toward the park, every now and then walking into a store for no reason; 'no reason' especially for me, since I had no money. Thanks, Jeb. In one of the stores we walked in, there were some boys lounging around by the counter, though there was no one there. They were all laughing at something, but when we walked in, they all stopped and glared.

"It's the Gallagher Girls," I heard one of then sneer to another.

"Excuse me?" Macey hissed. "Do I know you?"

"Of course not," He said. "But go on, walk around, do what you came in here for. You could possibly own this place." Macey glared at him, and Bex narrowed her eyes.

"_Macey,"_ Liz hissed, staring at the dude. "It's not worth a fight. Let's go."

"What did you say, your highness?" This was new. Why was there a whole bunch of weirdoes looking for a fight? What was their problem? I voiced my question aloud.

"What's your problem?" The guy who was talking to Mace held up his hands in retreat.

"I never said I had a problem. Of _course _I don't have a problem. No one would _ever _have a problem with you," a few of the other boys chuckled. This is the last thing I needed, something else to make me angry. I was going to blow my whole Gallagher-Academy-School-For-Rich-People-Attendee disguise if this guy said another word. My nerves were already on edge.

"Obviously, you do," Bex said absentmindedly, looking at something on a rack, but there was also warning in her voice.

"Split it out," Liz said.

"Or what, blonde? You'll throw something? You'll call your daddy? There's nothing you can-" I sighed audibly, and he looked at me. "What?"

"Just close your fat face, or I'll do it for you. We're leaving," I said. I could feel a headache coming on. (No, not a mind explosion one, just a daily-spy-life one.) I grabbed JJ's arm, and turned us around.

"Oh really? Aren't you too afraid of breaking a nail?" I froze.

"Excuse me?" I said, turning back, and looking him right in the face. "What. Did. You. Say." I punctuated each word with a hard poke.

"You wouldn't, you're too afraid of breaking a nail," He sneered, repeating himself.

"Max, its okay, leave hi-"I. Hate. Bullies.

_Wham!_

And my fist came into contact with his face.

The blow knocked his head against the wall, and he held his broken, bloody nose, moaning in pain. The other guys looked at him, then at me, then at him. Humans were such eggshells.

"Whoops. Not sorry." And I turned and stalked out of the room. I heard Bex say something that sounded a lot like, _deserved that, _and they all walked out after me.

"Max!" Liz said, walking up next to me.

"What?" I asked, as if I had no idea what she was talking about.

"You could have completely blown our cover!" This girl was all about the rules.

"Liz, there are _actually _some people in the world who are _not _spies who _can _throw a punch," I said, as if explaining that one plus one was two. Especially bird kids. Bex gave me a high-five, and Liz glared at her.

"You still shouldn't have done that," she grumbled, and I rolled my eyes.

"That's how Max rolls," I said. That punching thing was a _great _reliever of stress. That should be part of therapy; actually, I believe there is therapy for people to _stop _using violence as a form of therapy. Whatever.

"I think I _have _seen that guy somewhere else," Mace muttered.

"It's a small town," Bex said, and Macey shrugged.

"Still going to the park?" I asked.

"Why not?" and so, we walked to the park. There really wasn't very much to do. Bex and I walked over to the two empty swings, while Liz and Macey stayed sitting on a bench. I really didn't have the energy to actually try getting the seat swinging; it was just a cheap knockoff of flying. I leaned back, looking at the sky. How I wished I could bust out my wings and go search the country for my flock. Gosh, caring about people is sometimes extremely aggravating. Extremely.

"You ever been in a jet pack, Max?" Bex asked, also looking up at the sky. I sort of half smiled. Why would _I _need a jet pack?

"Nah."

"I used one once. It was a like flying."

"I bet it was." Nothing could compare to _really _flying, with wings. But that was the closest someone like her could come to the real thing, so I humored her.

"You know, there's like nothing underneath you, and nothing above, and you just move around with nothing anywhere to stop you. And you can just look at people down below, and they are all stuck on the ground. It's great." I chuckled.

"Don't I know it," I murmured. All this talk of flying is making my wings hurt!

"What?" She looked at me, surprised.

"Er, nothing."

When we got back, and for the first time since getting here, I barely ate anything. Ev asked what was wrong with me (She had headed off in another direction with Katy and someone else when we got to Roseville), but I didn't bother explaining my excuse. I trudged up the stairs alone, slowly opened the door to my suite, closed it behind me, and dropping my bag on the floor next to the other few things I had left out. I sighed. There was a sound, and I looked up. And jumped out of my skin, and then died of a heart attack. No, I didn't _really _die, but you get the point.

"What the-what are you- how did you get in here?" _Fang_ was sitting on a bean bag, reading _Harry Potter_. He looked up.

"Hey Max." I threw my shoe at him.

"You scared me!" I stared at him. Then I realized; Fang was in my room. How the ... How did he get in here without being seen by the uber- ultra-awesome spy quality surveillance cameras? And _why _was he here?

"Would you have been happier if I had jumped out of the closet?" He asked. I gave an aggravated sigh, walked over and sank onto my bed. He smirked. People. Named. Fang. Irritate. Me. Oh yeah, _why _is Fang in my room, again? "How's school going for you?" He asked.

"People think I'm a spy from Switzerland." We both snorted.

"How's the flock?" He frowned. What had happened? "Why didn't you guys come see me today in Roseville." He scratched his eyebrow.

"So, you going to tell me why you are here?" I said.

"In a moment."

"You annoy me." He flipped a page in his book. That right there is Fang, giving one of his famous reactions; doing nothing. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, they are world famous and highly discussed by the greatest philosophers of the day, even though almost every response of his life was punctuated with this popular choice. I waited for a moment.

"How'd you get in here?" I asked, genuinely curious. He looked up.

"I moved _really _fast, Max, really fast."

"What are you doing here?" He bit his lip. "Do tell." I waited a moment, then he placed a bookmark in the book, and put it down.

"You'll flip out," he mumbled.

"And _why _is that?" And then he _finally _spilled the beans.

And yes, I _did _flip out.

First things first, Fang was here to help me on my mission. This had been planned since last week, and Angel had made Dr. Steve think that he was waiting for another pupil to arrive that had had to go on a mission right at the time they were leaving, so he would meet them here. This made me annoyed at Jeb, because he didn't think I could do it alone, but I'm sort of glad Fang was here.

Secondly, the file was for some big trouble Jeb had gotten into trouble with a big bad group called the Circle of Cavan, and when I had agreed to the mission, I did not know it, but I was becoming part of this trouble. That made me mad at Jeb.

And then the flock became even _more _involved with the Circle last night when -and this is where I started flipping out- they kidnapped Angel, Gazzy, Nudge, and Iggy to hold for ransom for this file thing. And if they didn't get it, they would keep the flockees as Jeb's payment. Now I was furious.

"Its bad," Fang admitted when he was done.

"Why didn't Jeb tell me about this 'Circle' thing? Why did he involve us in this mess in the first place!" I had begun pacing a while ago, and now flopped on my back on my bed next to Fang, and puffed out some air before sitting back up. "So, we go rescue them." And I had a plan.

"No." Fang said. I stared at him, raising an eyebrow. "Jeb said that the only way possible for us to get them back is to get the file. That's why he wanted to hurry up the search and sent me. I was getting ready on Friday; I was out when they came to get the others." I suddenly felt guilty that I hadn't even tried getting into Sublevel 2.

"We can't just sit here on our butts and wait! No way, I'm going to go save my flock." I stood up again.

"Jeb said even _you _won't win. They are trained, they have weapons. C'mon, Max. We can't go." He said firmly. I sighed.

"How am I supposed to concentrate on _anything _when all I can think about is what they are doing to Nudge, or Angel, or Gazzy..."

"That's why we hurry," Fang said, matter-o-fact-ly. I looked at him.

"You don't even know what this place is like. The entire wing where the entrance is is wired with defense mechanisms, and we don't have clearance to get down there, which will makes it even more impossible to get into their files, which is practically concealed behind a lead wall. Do you even _realize _how much-"

"Stop panicking." I looked over at him.

"There is a _lot _to panic about," I pointed out angrily. I wanted to yell at him that it was his entire fault, and that he shouldn't have left the flock alone with a blind guy in charge, that he should have been there to protect them because _I _was stuck here, in a stupid spy school, where most of us didn't know what the world _reality _meant.

This whole day was just a huge steep downward slope to rock bottom.

"So, what's the plan?" I asked, returning to our aforementioned subject.

"Let's do some surveillance, tonight. I'll meet you in the Hall of History at one," he said, and I nodded, and he walked out the door.

"See ya," I said, waving.

"Yep."

* * *

**Really sorry that its not perfect quality, but if you guys want to complain, go read a different story. However, constructive criticism is very much appreciated! :)**

**Moving on. Two months and some weeks till its summer! Yay! That went by fast.**

**Once again, i luv u, people who read this story!**

**Review please! Pretty please! YES IM TALKING TO YOU! **


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey everyone. This is my next chapter, and it WILL be longer than all the other ones before, and then… well, you'll see.**

**I'm so, just so, so so so so, so so, just so, just so, just so so, just SO glad that there are people reading this! You guys/girls are AWESOME! Yes, you. I'm talking to you. And you. Yes, you as well. **

**Really, really sorry for the delay. I was thinking about this the whole month, so don't think I forgot you people for a DAY. No, seriously, I was constantly thinking "Hey, I should update my FF…. Look, a squirrel!"**

**So, I think I've developed a pattern of uploading every few weeks which I hope will change but I've been busy this whole week because I had to go to DC for a rally. Loads of fun, rallies are :D And then I had a HUMONGOUS event last Sunday, that we've been organizing since like last summer.**

**Anyways.**

**Thanks for forgiving me. Actually, I have no idea if you did or didn't, so I shall just decide to make you in my favor. Of **_**course **_**you forgive me!**

**I made a few adjustments to the end of the last chapter, just to let you know. Nothing major.**

**Now I shall stop boring you.**

**Disclaimer: Nuh uh, no! Me owning something! Are you out of your mind? Did you actually think that? Oh. You should get checked by a doctor or something, I've never seen such a severe case. Of what? Oh, never mind.**

**Prepare to be/not be amazed. Your choice! ;)**

**P.S. I sort of forgot what the Sublevl2 entrance was, so I made one up **

* * *

"Okay," I mutter to Fang as we enter the dark and silent hallway leading to the two passages to the Sub Levels. "The passages are right down here." I sense him silently nod, and almost roll my eyes at him. Did he expect me to see that? We walk down the hall, and I point out the mirror that holds the entrance to Sub1, and directly next to it is supposed to be the extremely disguised entrance to Sub2. Katy was telling me she overheard one of the other girls talk about it, who had already gotten clearance to go in. It was supposed to be right there. No surprise, it wasn't.

"Well, its there," I said, gesturing vaguely in the darkness.

"Where?" Fang asked, confused.

"I have no idea," I admitted. "But we'll have to figure that out sooner or later, I guess." Fang sighed. I placed my hand on the wood wall, and slid it down, looking for a catch. Nothing

"And the plan now is…?" I asked Fang.

"We'll have to wait for someone to go in." That sounded like a good plan.

"You never really see anyone going in, or coming out," I admitted.

"That's probably because you aren't watching as closely as you should be."

"So that's the plan? Just watch?"

"Mmhmm." Students would be going in and out on Monday. We would watch then.

"Okay. No more surveillance until Monday. That's when people will be-" There was a loud noise a few corridors down that echoed through what felt like the whole school.

"You should go now, Max."

"Fine. See you when?" I asked. I was sort of doubting that he was actually going to go to school here.

"I start on Monday."

"Okay," I said, and started walking back down the corridor. "G'night."

"Night," I heard him say behind me, before I turned the corner and hurried off to my room.

I didn't see Fang on Monday until I walked into COW, and saw him sitting across the room next to one of the other Blackthorne boys. The uniform made him look a lot less Fang-like.

I sat down in my usual place next to JJ, and everyone settled down as Madame Dabney strolled into the room.

She stepped into the middle of the room, and delivered some very disturbing news.

"The all-school exam," She began, very dreamily. "Ooh, ladies- and gentlemen," She added. "In all my years of teaching at this fine institution, I have never had the opportunity to organize such an exciting educational experience." Everyone who hadn't been paying attention before were now staring at her curiously.

"This Friday evening, all students in grades eight through twelve will be invited to a formal examination…"She paused, for dramatic effect, I suppose. What was she on about, exactly? "A ball. There's going to be a ball!" She repeated, and the room reacted in shock.

A ball? Oh no, not me. No way. I don't do heels and makeup, more like wings and dirt. No _way _was _I _going to this ball.

"A ball…" I heard JJ mutter to herself excitedly next to me. I looked across the room at Fang. His eyebrows were raised infinitesimally in incredulity. I know two people now who don't want to go now.

"Tomorrow," Dabney continued, "During this time, you will be fitted for a dress, and tuxedoes," she added, turning toward the boys. There was another problem; how was I supposed to hide my fifteen feet of feathers if I was wearing a fancy schmancy dress?

"On Friday evening, you will be asked to participate in a cumulative examination- a night that will encompass everything we teach. And, you will be expected to dance." Dancing? No. She said 'asked' not 'ordered,' right? So, I guess this whole thing is optional!

When class was over, and everyone filed out of the room, I walked up to Madame Dabney.

"Is this ball thing optional?" I asked, not beating around the bush. She looked up in surprise.

"Of course not. It's an exam. Don't you want to go?" She asked, confused. I shook my head.

"Not really." Or just flat out no.

"Don't worry, Miss Ride. It will be terrific," she beamed enthusiastically, and I weakly smiled in return, then left.

_A ball_, I think again as I walk toward lunch. Yeah, I just can't get over the shock. Me, going to a ball? No. And it wasn't just me, but it would look incredibly weird to have wings bulging out of my dress. Fang could probably get away with it, he was wearing a tux, but that's a big no no for me. I would have to approach Headmistress Morgan to ask if I could skip, and that was something I wasn't looking forward to. I didn't think she completely believes there are actually wings there. I wonder if she knows about Fang too. I'm guessing not.

I sit down next to JJ and Ev, and then the three of us lookup as Fang sits down across from me. Where did he come from?

"Hello. And you would be?" Ev asked conversationally.

"Nick," Fang says, looking up, then returns to eating his enormously piled plate of food.

"My name is JJ, and she's Ev. And where are you from?" JJ asks, confused. Why would she be? It's obvious.

"Blackthorne. Where else?"

"I know the name of every Blackthorne boys, and 'Nick' is not one of them," JJ continues. Fang just shrugs.

"So, Nick," Ev asks. "Is there a last name that goes with that?"

"Nah. Just Nick," He says shortly.

"Really?" she says, unconvinced. Fang just nods.

"He's like Madonna, or Beyoncè," I explain. Fang looks up at me, humor in his eyes.

"Beyoncè?" He asks sarcastically.

"Mmhm," I say, starting on my salad. Fang smiles.

"Actually, my last name is Fang." I laugh. Nick Fang. Nice way of incorporating his real name. JJ looks at me funny.

"Do you two know each other?"

"No," I say, at the same time Fang says "Yeah." I glare at him. I was trying to avoid annoying questions, but _no,_ Fang just can't shut his pie-hole. Ha ha, _Fang? _Talk too much? Absurd.

"So, I'm thinking yes," JJ concludes. "And how would that be?"

"Why are you so _nosy, _J?" I say, elbowing her.

"Just the facts, Max, just the facts."

That night I went to talk to Ms. Morgan about the ball thing, giving her my reasons not to go. _Unfortunately, _she found a solution.

"It's okay, Ms. Morgan, I'd be just fine not going." I smiled at her to show how okay I was with it.

"Ms. Ride, if there is a solution, and there is, then the Friday ball is mandatory. It's a test, not just some school activity." I tried arguing my point, but I was beat. The solution was simply to put a loose decorative jacket over my dress and Ta-da, wings are gone.

"It will be wonderful, Ms. Ride," she tried to convince me. Secretly I was now freaking out that I actually had to attend this thing, because I'd never even _gone _to a ball. Though, I think none of the other girls had either.

"I'm sure it will," I say politely in response, humoring her. I started walking toward the door.

"Goodnight," she says.

"Goodnight, Ms. Morgan," I say, before ducking out of the door.

By the time Friday came around, I was astounded at how worked up girls could become over this. Maybe it's just me, but they seemed pretty _obsessive._ Just me? Okay.

The whole of my lunch for the next four days was spent listening to Ev and JJ yammer on about hairclips, or nail polish, or eye shadow. I have to admit, it was annoying.

On Friday night, there was pandemonium in the girl's dormitory as they prepared for the party, which was going to start in about half an hour. I had already finished getting ready, and so I was sitting in JJ's room, watching her straighten Katy's hair with amusement as Katy squealed with excitement, while I slightly gagged on perfume. JJ had already forced me to sit down as she pulled and curled my hair into some fancy looking thing, that looked sort of like a loose version of a ballerina bun. And, she'd then held my head still as Katy applied some makeup to my face, and _then_- would you believe it? They shoved pointy shoes on my feet. I would never forgive them. I should have just waited in my room.

"After all this prep, I really hope that you guys have a good time," I say, shaking my head slightly at their antics.

"Oh Max," JJ shakes her head in disappointment. Katy looks over at me from the mirror, and smiles one of those humoring smiles.

"You barely did anything," She says. I nod in sarcastic pride.

"Yes, that is correct."

"Sometimes, you are just… wow, Max. And you still look great." I didn't know what to respond to that, so I just said, "Thanks," then Ev stumbled into the room.

"Would one of you zip me," she said, teetering on her heels. I stood up and walked over to her. Her dress was green, and it went nicely with her eyes. My dress was a simple, straight, strapless pastel purple made out of some really flow-y fabric that went down to my calves, and a white cardigan thing to help cover the tips of my wings that were sticking out of my dress. And it was just so un-max, and yet… I really liked it. I can't say, but I like wearing it. Being surrounded by so many girls must be having a strange affect on me.

"Thanks," she said, then immediately went over and sat next to Katy, and fixed her makeup _again. _

"You look fine, Ev," I reassured her. "I don't get what the big deal is, girls."

"That's because, you're Max," Katy said, as though pointing out the obvious.

"Is that supposed to be an insult?" I ask warily.

"'Course not, just saying. You're like... above all of this. It's really weird," she says, now pinning her hair up. I roll my eyes, not bothering to try and decipher what she really means.

"It's about time to go down, you ready?" JJ says. Katy takes a deep breath, and Ev nods her head.

"Let's go." They all stand up, and we file out into the hallway, and join the other girls in floating down the stairs. _Puh-lease! _Me? Float? As. If.

We walked down the Grand Staircase and into the room full of people; girls dressed in every color imaginable, and then the Blackthorne boys in black, and some men from the maintenance department to even the boys/girls ratio a little.

"This is so exciting!" Katy whispered excitedly. Ms. Dabney was going around taking pictures with her brooch and telling us all we looked '_Lovely.' _ I, personally, was now wondering what the test was going to be like. I was slightly nervous. Okay, a lot nervous.

The Grand Hall looked… grand. There was a string quartet playing Beethoven, and waiters were strolling about with trays of delicious-looking food, and small tables at the edges of the room were decorated with lilies and roses. It was most certainly the fanciest place I've ever been to. You couldn't have guessed it was a school.

Joey started walking toward us, with a stack of files under his arm, and my test fears came back to me. This whole thing was purely for academic purposes. Great, I had been hoping I could just sit this out.

"Hello ladies and gentlemen. You all look very nice, but I'm afraid you aren't quite finished getting ready." At that, Katy shot him a death glare. "I'm afraid we didn't mention that tonight is something of a _masquerade _ball." And there was panic.

"But we haven't got masks, or…. Disguises or-" a girl said, before Joey cut her off.

"These are your disguises, Ms. Bauer." Instead of masks, he handed out folders. "Cover legends, ladies and gentlemen. You have three minutes to memorize every piece of information within them. Even if you are not in the CoveOps course, Ms. Sutton. Spies are the ultimate actors. It's the heart of what we do. Your mission tonight is simple: become somebody else." Acting. Hmm. I've never been into drama much, but I'm sure that I could pull it off; somehow. First I have to see who I'm supposed to be. I guess I am acting the whole time I'm here, so, it can't be that hard, right? Except for possibly the languages, I don't know if I can act that.

"It's an exam, people. Culture, languages, observation… The real tests aren't about knowing the answers on a piece of paper. It's about living them." And he walked away.

I broke the seal on my folder, and looked into it. I found a drivers license, social security card, and even an ID- all with my picture on it, but somebody else's name.

Apparently, my name was Cecey Ron, and I was 20. I was a popular and successful novelist, and the cousin of a senator. I was a vegetarian. I studied in Greece for four years off a scholarship- that made me wonder if I would have to speak Greek, which would not be a pretty sight- majoring in art. I'm exceedingly unsocial- Not true!- and claustrophobic. A pacifist (As if- Not that I don't like peace and all that). I adore violin and piano music. Huh. That didn't sound too hard to pull off, but I mean… Really, who was making this thing up?

My three minutes was up, and now I had to _become _Cecey Ron, author, pacifist, art lover. At least I wasn't a dancer, because _that, _I would refuse to do. Though, she probably is. They left some room for guess work.

I went to get myself a drink, then went off to find Ev and Katy. Katy was dancing with one of the Blackthorn boys, but I saw Ev and JJ strolling around the room, talking to people.

I didn't know if it was in character or not, but I didn't really care about my grades too much, so I just walked up to them like I normally would.

"Hello, I don't believe we've met," JJ says to me, smiling, and I go along with it. I guess it's what spies do.

"I don't think so either. My name is Cecey Ron, and you would be?"

"Cassandra Wild. I'm here at this fine institution as a translator for my employer's daughter, the ambassador of France's daughter, that is." She smiled at me, and tapped Ev, who had been in a conversation with Mr. Steve, and Ev turned around. She smiled at me, winked, and then started jabbering in French- not one word of which I understood.

JJ told her something, and Ev stared at me in shock. I have to say, she was a good actor. All of them were. They would make terrific spies.

After that, I strolled around the room by myself, and sometimes randomly approached by teachers and such. I wondered where Fang was, because I hadn't seen him so far, but just as I wondered that I saw him across the room, sitting at one of the tables and talking to another guy. Well, the other guy was doing most of the talking, but soon he left and Fang was alone. So I went over to talk to him.

"Hello," I say, pulling up a chair and sitting down opposite him.

"Good evening," Fang said, looking at me. "You must be?" He was really into this whole spy thing. I never actually thought Fang would be the spy-type, but actually, he could totally pull it off. Totally.

"My name's Cecey."

"Tom." He held out his hand, and I shook it.

"Pleasure meeting you," I say. I mean, I suppose I actually am not that polite, and why would I be polite to Fang (I know, right? Joke!) , but I think Cecey Ron would be, so...

"The pleasures mine." He sighed. "This constant acting thing is annoying," He muttered.

"Yeah. I know," I say, dropping my 'cover,' and give him a knowing smile, and he half-smiles back.

"You look nice," He says, looking at me and sipping his punch. Well, Fang just complemented me. I smile a bit.

"Thanks. I would say the same for you, but I can't," I say, now grinning, and he rolled his eyes. Of course, it was an absolute lie. "Enjoying it?" I ask.

"Nah. I don't do this whole thing… and my back hurts." He says, and I hear his real meaning, which is that his _wings _hurt.

"You get used to it. I haven't been out for a month."

"That's… insane." He says, shaking his head.

"So is Jeb." We laugh, sort of, at my absurdly lame joke. Like, it's a joke how lame that joke was. Ha-ha.

"Any progress on the entrance?" I ask quietly and oh-so-discreetly. He shrugs.

"Yeah, I've seen how they get in there. Just it seems more impossible that we can get into it." I sigh, and we both look around the room, just observing

"You plan to do anything ball-related while we're here?" I ask. I don't know what I hope he is going to say.

"I don't know. Are you?"

"_Please. _Spare me."

"You're a constant downer, you know that?" He says jokingly.

"Just because I don't dance-" I say indignantly, though smiling.

"You've never even tried," he points out.

"There's a reason for that." I reply, thinking of my un-graceful ways. Yeah, I'm no ballerina.

"Name one time." I raise my eye brows at him in incredulity, and he nods. "Thought so."

"I didn't say anything!" I protest. "Just give me a second." We are silent for a moment as I wrack my brains for any memories of trying to dance. "Fine." He grins triumphantly. "But neither have you."

"And how would _you _know that?" he says. I roll my eyes.

"Because I've been living with you for practically every day of your whole life, that's how." He shrugs.

"There's a first time for everything." He stands up, and turns to me. "So, would you like to dance?" I look at him in disbelief.

"Yeah, I don't think so." He rolls his eyes, grabs my hand, and drags me onto the dance floor despite my protests, where they are doing a type of waltz. I have a moment of panic- before I calm down. I am _Max Ride. _I can handle a freaking dance. And besides, I think we did this one day in class with Madame Dabney.

Fang takes my hand, and soon we are moving in step with everyone else. I deliberately step on his foot a few times, before I realize that dancing isn't as bad as I thought it would be. Huh.

"This is _actually _easy_,_" I say.

"Told you so," Fang mutters, and I glare at him, and he smirks. But I stop glaring, because I don't want my face to stick like that.

No, just kidding. But I do stop glaring. And then I realize; Me and Fang are dancing. I try to hide my blush.

"Since when did _you _like dancing?" I question, just to keep the talking going.

"Aiedonno." He says, looking me straight in the eyes.

After the song ends, someone drags Fang off to do something in-character. No, not in character like Fang-ish, in character like Tom-ish. Anyways, I stroll around the room _again, _all by myself. I start walking to the bathrooms, and am almost there when all the lights suddenly go off. And that is _extremely _odd for a school like this.

There are loud footsteps in front of me, and some gruff voices. Then someone is walking next to me in the dark, and I say, "Who's there?"

"Its her," someone hisses. I back up a little, starting to freak out.

"Who's that," I say again, louder and more insistent, and now I am getting a little freaked out. I knew my peaceful life at the Academy was to good to last.

And then, suddenly my hands are being twisted behind my back, and I'm being chocked.

Unfortunately for them, they don't know who they are dealing with. Immediately I twist out of their grip, jab my shoe into him, and he drops like a stone.

But it seems they expected it. I can't see anything in the dark, and its hard to fight wearing my dress (I told you I shouldn't have gone to the ball!), and someone knocks my legs out from under me, and as I fall they grab me, pinning my arms down to my sides so I can't move, and start dragging me further down a corridor.

"Code Black! Code Black! Code Black!" Alarms are blaring, and lights start flashing. I try and cry out for help, but then one of the dark figures pull out something reflective, and then I feel a needle be injecting into my arm, and then…. I'm out.

**3rd Person POV**

The blackout went on for about fifteen seconds, and then the Code Black started. One of the teachers called out for no one to move, and no one did, as the staff rushed out of the room.

Then, just as suddenly as it had come, the Code Black stopped, and the lights turned back on. And then, the teachers calmly instructed everyone to return to their rooms, and that was that, and the test was over.

_What had happened?_ That was what was being whispered through the halls as Fang walked from breakfast to his first class, P&E. He and Max had that class together, and he wanted to ask her what she thought of the blackout, and since she hadn't been there at breakfast, he would have to ask her now. JJ had said that she probably slept in. That seemed like a Max-type of thing, Fang thought with a half-smile.

But as he walked into P&E, scanning the faces of everyone there, Max was once again absent. No one at Gallagher Academy skipped classes, or were late. Well, except Max, he thought truthfully. But seriously, where _was _she?

"Excuse me, Professor," Fang said, walking up to Professor Buckingham **(?),** who looked up."Have you seen Max Ride?"

"Can't say I have. But if she doesn't show up in a few minutes I shall have to make a note of her absence."

For the rest of class, Fang couldn't concentrate. He knew it was paranoid to think that something bad had happened to Max, but when the rest of his had already been taken, it wasn't so far-fetched.

And she was gone for the class after that. Now Fang was getting even more worried. In the hallway after COW, he spotted Ev and asked her if she had seen Max.

"I don't know Nick, I just don't know. I haven't seen her all day, but there probably isn't anything wrong. Maybe she is still up in her room, but I don't have time to check. Got to go," she finished, and Fang nodded as she walked off to another class.

Maybe she _was _in her room. So, Fang make a split second decision to race up the stairs to the girl's rooms, and check in on Max's room. That would be running the risk that someone might see him and he would be in trouble, but if she really was there, he could just stop all the worrying and relax.

So, he went. The door was unlocked, which he didn't know was a good sign or a bad one, but we went inside anyways. She wasn't there. Fang's heart plummeted. This couldn't be happening. Not Max. Gallagher Academy was supposed to be _safe, _that's why Jeb had sent her here! And now… Fang ran a hand through his hair in distress. Max was gone, and who knew what the Circle was doing to her now. They could be pumping her for information on the school, or on the School, or on Jeb, or…

Fang couldn't finish the mission now. Firstly, what he knew about the Academy was next to nothing compared to what Max knew. How was he supposed to do this? Secondly, no way in Hell was he going to leave Max to the mercy of the Circle. Max was his partner in crime, the flock leader, his very best friend; Max was…

Fang walked out of Max's room, closing the door behind him, and rushed down the Grand Staircase. He would have to tell Headmistress Morgan. If there was anyone that could take on the Circle, he was sure, it was the trained spies in Gallagher Academy. The Circle of Cavan was their natural enemie, after all.

The knocked three times on the heavy oak doors of Ms. Morgan's office, and ran his hand through his hair again. How could he let this happen? How could he go fifteen hours without knowing that Max was gone?

"Come in," said the tense voice of Ms. Morgan, and Fang opened the door and stepped in. Inside were sitting three people, Ms. Morgan at her desk, Mr. Solomon standing stoically near the wall, and a blond girl who looked only a little older than Max herself.

"Hello Mr…?"

"Er, Fang," Said Fang nervously, and Ms. Morgan raised an eyebrow but said nothing. "I came to tell you that I believe Max Ride is missing." That immediately got their attention.

"Please repeat that, Mr. Fang," She said calmly, and Fang almost laughed out loud at 'Mr. Fang." But, of course, he didn't.

"I think Max is missing."

"Max Ride?" The blond girl said.

"I just said that," Fang snapped tensely, but Ms. M and Mr. Solomon were exchanging worried glances.

"How can you be sure?" Ms. Morgan asked seriously.

"I can't, but she hasn't been in any of her classes, and no one has seen her since last night." _Ah Max…_

"Since the blackout?" Mr. Solomon asked quickly, and Fang nodded.

"We wondered what they took..." Ms. M muttered to herself.

Ms. Morgan pressed a button on her intercom, and spoke into it. "There is reason to believe that Maximum Ride has gone missing. If any student knows anything about this, please tell a staff member or report to the Headmistress's Office." She released the button and looked back at Fang.

"Anything else, Mr. Fang?"

"Yeah," he said quickly. "Look, this isn't just some random thing, Max was taken by the Circle of Cavan."

"By who?" The blond girl said, but Ms. Morgan ignored her, glancing worriedly at Mr. S, who was still looking at Fang.

"I know a lot about this, and was half expecting this," _lie. _"Max is a special person." _Very special… _"And so I can give you some valuable information on this." Ms. Morgan looked at him with an eyebrow raised, but nodded to Solomon, who began writing down everything Fang said about what had happened. Fang's heart throbbed in worry for Max... and the rest of the flock, he supposed. _Why do you have to get yourself in so much trouble, Max?_

* * *

**So hopefully that satisfied you people. Sheesh. **

**Sorry for my horrifying attempt at Fax. I mean, that chapter was just ugly. **

**And yeah, that was much longer than most those other chappies.**

**PLEASE Review! It could make me update faster! Or not, but I love you all forever! What would be funny if i saw u in the street and you said "Hey, remember me? I reviewed on your story?" Then I would HUG TACKLE you for reviewing :)**

**And I am wondering, does it really bother you guys that sometimes I switch tenses like "Sit" and "Sat"? Because, if it does, I'll make a bigger effort to fix that.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry for the delay! Here is the next chappie! I'm sorry that it's not to long… Hope u enjoy!**

**PS if you want to read on from this, you HAVE to review. No exceptions. Don't want to review, then don't read. Cuz I want reviews ! :D**

**And THANK YOU to everyone who DID review! You don't know WHAT it MEANS to ME! THANKS A BUNCH! **

**Sorry, caffeine high…**

**Sorry if its a little short :) U guys deserve more from a month long break, but...**

* * *

When I return to consciousness, there is only slight disorientation before I can remember everything that happened to me up to this point- and it's not good.

I have now been kidnapped, likely by the same people who kidnapped the flock. Great. Just terrific. It feels like my feet are tied together, and my hands are chained to the sides of my chair, and I'm sitting in a chair. You could've figured that out because… never mind. And I'm still in my fancy purple dress and jacket, though my annoying shoes seemed to have fallen off. Good; even though, now my feet are cold.

I open my eyes, and look around the gloom. I am sitting behind an expensive looking table. Actually, it doesn't look like a too bad place to keep your prisoner. There are bookshelves lining the walls full of books, my chair is pretty comfortable, there's couple of fancy looking lamps around, and then the, also fancy, Persian-looking rug. The whole room was comfortably silent. Why would anyone use _this _room to put their prisoners? Well, the motivations of crack-head villains were always foreign to me.

There's no one in here. I give a huge sigh, letting it drag on longer than any normal person would if they were sighing. But do I look like I care about being normal?

I thought I had been safe at Gallagher Academy! What with all their security, and with every single person in there a spy or spy-in-training. How could _anyone_ get in? How _did _these people get in? I suppose these Circle people were able to handle the Gallagher Academy security forces. But why did they bother to capture me if they knew that I was there to get the file for them? Now they would have to do it themselves. Doesn't make sense…

I jumped a little as the door swung open, and three people walked in, all looking spy-y. They stood at the other end of the table, and then a light flashed on, and I had to blink to shield my eyes from the bright glare.

"Maximum Ride." It wasn't a question, it was a confirmation. I looked back up at the spy's faces. The man who had talked to me had an odd accent that I couldn't place, and as I searched all of their features, my heart sank. They all looked _very _spy-y. The bad type.

"It's my name, don't wear it out," I say, but they obviously don't get the humor, because they aren't laughing. Or smiling. Or showing much expression at all. Almost like they were Fang-drones. Ha-ha, _that _was funny. Sort of. Hey, don't judge me, I just got kidnapped!

"Are you an accomplice in the plot to get File East from Gallagher Academy?" Asks the middle one; a woman, with long black hair that looks a lot like a wig. Just saying. No ones hair looks _that _un-disturbed.

"Yeah, I guess," I say apprehensively. I didn't know that the name was East, but that sounds like it could be true. They exchange undecipherable glances.

"Why did you agree to do this?" The other dude asks. I give him a funny look; I thought that they wanted me to do this?

"I don't know," I answer semi-truthfully, shrugging. Why _had _I agreed to do this? Well, my mom had asked me to, so I did. Now that I think on it, I should have asked why she wanted me to do it. Those mothers… "And who are you anyways?"

They exchange more glances, before answering. "Let's say that my name is Alastair," The first guy says, leaning on the table with one hand, and then gestured to the other two. "He'll be Mr. Timn," Alastair gives an infinitesimally small smile. "And she will be…" he paused for a moment, and exchanged uber-covert glances with the lady, now frowning. "Asraa. And we will be asking the questions, not you."

"Where am I?" I ask, because I so obviously don't care about what he told me.

"No need to know that," says 'Asraa.' "All you need to do is answer our questions, and then, maybe, you can go back to your dull and uninteresting life."

"If my life is so dull, how on earth do you expect me to know anything that you would find helpful?" I say, beating around the bush.

"You will answer our questions, or we'll do the same thing to you that we did to your friends," Mr. Timn says. What? Who do they mean by 'my friends'? Are they talking about the flock? Oh. Maybe they are. Wait a second, what did they do to them? I want to freak out and start hyperventilating, but I keep my cool, because I _am _cool. Duh. Just kidding, but no way am I going to give them any leverage against me.

"I don't feel the need to tell you people _any_thing," I say, being my cocky self. Works every time.

"You will tell us, or we will cut off your fingers," says Alastair menacingly. I bite my lip; fingers are a pretty good thing to keep. My cocky self decides not to make an appearance after all. Huh. Seems like it doesn't work every time… I may need to note this discovery…

"Are you or are you not working with a Jeb Batchelder?" Asks Mr. Timn. I blink.

"Sort of."

"Yes or no."

"Yes," I answer, momentarily forgetting my promise not to say anything. Harmless information though, right? "He told me he was getting it for _you_ guys. So why am I being kidnapped away from the mission?" I ask angrily.

"Mr. Batchelder had no intention what so ever to give File East to us. He was trying to get it _before _us." Alastair continues, and I am slightly shocked. So Jeb was _double _lying to me? Of course he was. That's just what he does. Is double lying _worse _than only lying once, or does it balance itself out, like a double negative? No, definitely worse. And how would I even know what a double-negative is?

"Well that's what I was told. So, there is no reason for me to stay here," I say, though I know no amount of convincing will make them just drop me back off at Gallagher Academy.

"You're right. Maybe we should just kill you," Asraa says coolly. Okay, _that's _not what I had meant.

"We are going to take you to another room for further interrogation, so…" Alastair says, and someone grabs me from behind. Funny, I didn't know there was someone behind me. They easily lift me off my chair, and drag me out the door.

I don't protest. Why don't I protest? What's wrong with me? I'm friggin _Max Ride. _I am dragged down a couple of dark hallways, and down some steps that hurt my back and wings, and then the floor levels out.

The walls are no longer fancy-shmancy old-looking wood, but sterile white normal people walls. A metal door is opened, and I am taken into one of those rooms that's like the ones they use in those cool crime shows. You know, like a big glass box. There are a couple other boxes next to mine, but I gasp in shock and fear when I realize who is in the box next to me.

I almost don't recognize the tall boy who is slumped, sleeping, against the metal table. When I see the wings- all the feathers wilted, dirty, matted, crooked and out of place- strangely positioned on his back, I can narrow it down to possibly three people. I look at the blond hair, and the face smudged with blood, and my breathing stops.

It's Iggy.

Back at Gallagher Academy, the rescue squad had assembled, and was preparing the plane for take-off. It had taken around six hours to get all the information from their sources on where to head off to.

Headmistress Morgan had assembled seven trained operatives for the mission, and then added herself, Mr. Solomon, and Fang to that team. But it seemed, as they were heading out of the school for the landing strip, that there was going to be a few more additions to the crew.

"Wait!" They turned around as Ev ran up to them, panting slightly. "I'm coming with you guys," she said, standing up straighter.

"No, Ms. Alvarez," Ms. Morgan said quickly. "You can't come on this mission. There is too much danger involved."

"Why does _he_ get to go?" Ev says, pointing at Fang accusingly, who was standing to Ms. Morgan's right. He was impatient to get on the plane. He could barely wait those six hours, and he didn't want to waste another minute. _Especially _for Eva Alvarez, who sounded like a six year old just then.

"Mr. Fang **(A/N that sounds stupid I don't even know why I made his name that :P)** has some crucial information, and a personal connection to Ms. Ride."

"So do I!" Ev says indignantly. "Max is one of my best friends. And I'm going."

"Ms. Alvarez-" but Ev cut Ms. Morgan off.

"Don't '_Ms. Alvarez' _me. I'm going!" Mr. Solomon and Ms. M exchanged glances. "I'm going," Ev repeated firmly.

"We're wasting time," Fang pointed out impatiently.

"Let her come," Mr. Solomon said. "There's no harm in her tagging along."

"Actually, there _is," _Ms. Morgan snapped back.

"Consider it an educational experience."

"Please, Ms. Morgan?" Ev said pleadingly. Morgan sighed angrily, gritting her teeth, and nodded. "Thank you," Ev said in relief, and the four of them started off again toward the door, when another shout came from behind them. Fang gave in irritated sigh when he saw who it was; Cammie and Bex.

"Hey!" Cammie said, running to catch up with them. "If she's going, why can't we?" Fang cursed inside his head. Before, when they were preparing this whole thing, Cammie, Bex, Macey and Liz had all pestered Ms. Morgan to her nerves end.

"We talked about this before, Cammie. You aren't coming!" Ms. Morgan says in frustration.

"We want to help," Bex says. They were wasting time, Fang thought. Max could be anywhere by know, and they could be doing who knows what to her. Not to mention that the flock had already been there for over a week. They had to leave _now_.

"There are already enough people on the team," Ms. Morgan says. Didn't they realize that they were wasting time?

"Are we going, or not?" Solomon asks, the very same thing Fang was thinking.

"You aren't leaving without us," Cammie says stubbornly.

"No."

"Yes."

"_No."_

"Yes," Cammie replied stubbornly.

"_Please, _Ms. Morgan?" Bex asked, a little more polite than her friend. _Let's go, let's go, let's go, _Fang chanted inside his head.

"Fine, you can come with, now _we have to leave,_" Mr. Solomon says finally.

"Thanks," Bex says.

"Can I go get Liz and Mac-"

"No time, let's move." Mr. Solomon says, repeating the thing Fang was thinking. The six of them finally clear the door, and are out on the Academy's landing strip, where a jet was waiting for them. The other seven spies on their team were already on it, so the moment the door was sealed behind Ms. Morgan, the plane took off. It was a spacious plane, one made for a long flight.

"Where are we going?" Fang asked once the plane was up.

"Copenhagen,Denmark. One of the cities with deep ties with the Circle. We suspect they've gone to their base there," Mr. Solomon answers.

Copenhagen. How long would a flight there take? Seven hours? Eight? At least it was faster than normal flying, Fang supposed. But that would mean almost two days since Max was taken. Way-to-go, speedy spies. The whole flock could be dead by then.

Way to go.

* * *

**Thanks for reading! I hope that was a _little _worth the long wait that I've put u ppl through :)**

**If anyone recognizes the Mr. Timn reference please leave a review! Though I don't expect anyone to :D**

**I made them go to Copenhagen, but I was originally going to make them go to Venice. But I decided it would be a nice change from the cliche France, Britain, Germany group. :) **

**Please review everyone! Pleassseee! I love every single stinking review that you write, and if anyone would like to give me a tip on a better way to write, I am all ears. Or you could PM me a suggestion :)**

**I 3 all my readers! **

**-Laila**


	7. Chapter 7

**Ssoorryy for the delay. *sheepish look* Really, really sorry.**

**Here's the next chapter. I hope its good enough for you awesome readers. Its sortof longer than the last chapter... yeah, its longer. :)**

**PS- prepare for the story to go around the bend of wacko!**

* * *

I can feel the blood drain from my face as they dump me in my uncomfortable chair, not able to tear my eyes away from Iggy. _What did they do to him!_

Why had I let this happen? Why hadn't I tried to bust them out of here the moment I knew they had been taken? I _knew _that the Circle could, and would, do this to them! I imagine the things that had happened back at the School, and I shudder. How did I sleep back at the Academy, knowing that the flock was here, suffering? _How! _How did I let this happen? _Look at Iggy, Max. This is your fault. _

_Don't beat yourself up, Max. There was nothing you could do, _I jumped a little from my shocked daze at the sound of my Voice.

_Yes there was. This shouldn't have happened, _I think back, cursing myself over and over again for my stupidity. _Just _look _at Iggy. Look at him. I couldn't let this happen._

_Max, tread carefully. These people don't want to do you any favors, _the Voice warns.

_I think I could figure that out for myself, thanks. _Just then, the door opens behind me, and I tear my eyes from Iggy's sleeping form to see who entered.

It's a different lady, with floofy blond hair, coal black eyes, and a grim smile. She looks like trouble to me.

"Max Ride," She says, standing opposite me. "Pleasure meeting you. I'm Agent Dysk." For one moment, I have a 'flash back' to that corny ball I was kidnapped from, and all of us going _Pleasure, pleasure, _in a snobby voice. I almost smile.

"The pleasures all mine," I say with a stupid drawl in my words, piling on the sarcasm. "And to what do I owe this _honor?" _ Wow, I can't believe I am being sarcastic now. Whatever. The lady's jaw stiffened, and her eyes narrowed. _Be careful, Max, _Voice tells me. _These are not the people you want to mess with. _I don't even bother answering.

"Max, we need you to answer some questions," She sounds almost tired when she says this. "They aren't hard." I take a deep breath.

"I won't tell you anything," I say. She frowns.

"That's what they all say. That's what he said," She nods in the direction of Iggy. "We liked to listen to the sounds of his screams," She gives a psychotic smile.

Somewhere, in the back of my mind, I realize that this has all been set together to scare me. That they know her words will set off my memories of the School, that seeing Iggy in the other room will unhinge me. I don't really care about the back of my mind, I just care that one of my flock have been hurt. Possibly more.

Suddenly, I'm on my feet, standing as tall as the Agent Dysk herself.

"Don't touch my flock!" I yell. "They've got nothing to do with this." I glare at her, and she looks me back in the eye impassively.

"You're flock, you say?" She nods. "Make sense, for a bunch of birds. And yes, we know about your wings. We know about the School." I just glare at her harder- if that is possible.

"Iggy doesn't know anything about what Jeb has been planning, and you know it." I take a shuddering breath. "Why'd you take him? Why'd you take them?"

"Well," She begins to explain. I am almost surprised; I didn't expect her to actually explain the situation. But I listen, still standing, leaning on the table on both hands.

"We originally took them to use them as ransom for File East." I nod; Fang had told me this. "We told Batchelder we wouldn't hurt them, but he had to take his spy out of the Academy and stop trying to get to it before us. But, instead, he sent in another bird brain, and so we didn't have to stick to our end on the agreement any longer." I stiffened as she smiled wryly.

"Some of our other agents thought that your… flock would know about the mission. We had to agree, it made sense. Subject Martinezsent the four bird children to live closer to the Academy, so that you could tell them what information you had gained, and they, in turn, would tell Batchelder. So, we asked. Politely at first. But obviously they didn't want to say anything. And the one that talks a lot-" _Nudge. _"-said that Batchelder didn't tell them anything. Half of us believed them. The other half… Didn't." She frowned. "But since they didn't want to talk, we had to resort to a different tactic." The way she said it… so simply, like she did this every day. Well, maybe she did. How the hell would I know?

"If you touch one of my flock, I'll break your spine." She gave me a look that said, _are you serious?_

"Miss Ride, you are in no position to be making threats."

"I am in a perfectly fine position, actually."

"Just like your friend was?" She taunts. Suddenly, something inside me snaps, and my fist lashes out, connecting with her face. She can't move fast enough, and I break her nose before she twisted my arm back painfully. I don't care. Hitting her felt good. I am an expert at hitting people. And no one, I repeat, _no one, _touches my flock.

_You shouldn't have done that, Max, _says the Voice.

_Yeah, well I don't give a care. _And I didn't. Dysk glares at me, trying to use her sleeve to stop the blood. After a moment, she gave up, and left the room to go fix up her face. I sit back down in my chair angrily, and wait for her to come back.

And so I wait. I try to amuse myself with something, trying not to look at Iggy, but the cell is to darn boring. Nothing in it of interest. So, I put my feet up on the desk. Then I take them down. Then I put them back up. I twiddle my thumbs. I attempt to whistle innocently- failing at both the innocent and the whistling. I can't whistle to save my life, it appears. I roll my head, roll my arms, pop my fingers, pop my toes, pop my neck, and stretch. _This is boring_.

The door opens up, and I sit like a normal person again. It's been probably over half an hour. Dysk is back, now with a bandage over her nose. She is glaring at me. I wonder why…. Oh, yeah.

"Lets continue the questions, Ride." Dysk says. I shrug. "Do you expect anyone to be looking for you?" I blink at this question, and am not quite sure how to answer. _Do _I think anyone is looking for me? Who would be? Maybe the Academy. Fang would still be back getting the file. Jeb obviously doesn't care about me, and the flock is here.

"Nope." I say, a little disheartened at how true it sounds. "But I don't need to be rescued."

"And why is that?" she asks. I raise my eyebrows at her in disbelief.

"Do you even know who I am?" I say. Cocky me is making a comeback! "I'm Max Ride. Bird kid, School Escapee, Eraser butt-kicker, leader of the flock, and Spy-In-Training." I added that last part as an afterthought. I guess I have learned some stuff at GallagherAcademy, so I think I could as a S.I.T. (Spy in training, for you slow people). "And I doubt your _puny _facility is going to last long against my skills of escape."

_Max, you are going too far._

_No I'm not, Voice. I am going just far enough. Now go away!_ Dysk smirks at me. She leans against the table, and we have a glaring stare-down.

"Ride, I am going to say this simply. This place," she sweeps her hand around the room, "Makes the GallagherAcademylook like a bike lock. And the only people in the building are people who could pop GallagherAcademyopen, like a bike lock. Oh wait, they _did. _The _School _is a bike lock compared to this place. You won't be getting out unless we want you to. And besides, you aren't going to risk the lives of your precious _flock, _now are you?" She glances over to the window that shows Iggy.

"Do a shock," she says in a commanding voice, and I know that it isn't for me.

Suddenly, Iggy is writing on the floor, screaming his head off.

"Don't touch Iggy!" I am now standing, shaking her, screaming at her to _leave Iggy alone! _Iggy stops moving and I give a relieved breath.

"What do you want from me?" I ask shakily. She smiles. And then, Iggy is screaming again, and I am yelling "Stop it! Leave him _alone_!"

"Will you tell us everything?" She asks.

"Yes. Just don't touch my flock." I say quickly.

_Max, you can't tell them anything._

_Get out of my head! I will tell them what I want. Can't you hear Iggy screaming?_

"Will you do what we say?"

"Fine. Just stop hurting my flock!" Iggy lays motionless on the floor again.

"Will you pledge your allegiance to the Circle?" Dysk asks. _What? _Why would they want me in the Circle? Can't they just leave me alone? I said I would tell them what they wanted!

"What? Why?" I ask, stunned. She looks me down her nose.

"Someone in this building thinks that you can be an important asset. Others agree. Bird agents can always get to places where normal ones can't. You've got the ingredients for a good spy; superb fighting skills, previous work, and a high tolerance for pain among other things. We have reasons to believe you have other abilities. We offer you the absolute safety of your 'flock,' and in return want a loyal spy. We will send you back into the GallagherAcademyas a double agent to collect our information. But, if you don't want to do it, we'll send you off to another lab. Like the School, but they'll pay us more. You can imagine what happens there, I assume. And besides…Do another shock" She orders.

"_No!"_ I yell as Iggy starts to write on the floor.

"Will you do it? _Everything _we ask?" I hesitate, but for only a moment.

"YES!"

And just like that, I become a bird kid slave for the Circle of Cavan.

_Nice work, Max, _Voice congratulates me sarcastically.

** . . . . . . . . **

_SOME HOURS LATER_

**. . . . . . . . . **

**Cammie POV**

I can't believe we actually persuaded Mom to go on this trip. But here we are, less than half an hour left until landing outside Copenhagen. I've had six hours in the plane to prepare for my first ever _real _mission.

And my first ever mission is to save _Max_ _Ride. _

Now that I think about it, there was never anything _normal _about Maximum Ride. Not even her name. She just appeared at our school over a month ago, and then slipped into our spy-training life. She walks funny, really stiff. She can floor Bex. She tried to sneak out of school. She took her headset off during a CoveOps lesson.

And then there is this. She got kidnapped at the ball. Now there is this "Nick Fang" character who suddenly knows everything about the situation. I didn't even know that Max had connections with the Blackthornes! _Why _does she have connections with them? How? Has she already been sucked deep into the spy world? And if so, why was she atGallagherAcademy in the first place? And how come I don't get to know Blackthorne boys and get kidnapped at dances! Just kidding. Well…

Sorry for all these questions.

I've been watching the Nick guy on the way over. He was practically bighting his nails, and his leg kept shaking like those really hyper or nervous people do. For some reason, there was something odd about him that reminded me of Max. Like maybe the way they both hold their backs really stiff? Or the same sort of closed-off look on their face. I mean, they don't look _anything _alike. But its like they are the same…

Weird.

We had made the plan on the way over. It seems like the Circles HQ has too much defenses to easily sneak into, but the Cavan wanted to meet with us in the city. Mr. Solomon and two of our agents were going to go talk to them, while the rest of us do some surveillance around the city, and more importantly, the Circle's building. They've got mics', though, so we should be able to hear everything through our comms. If they didn't want to hand Max over nicely, we would have to break in.

We've already got a blueprint of the building, and Mr. S seems to know where they would be holding her. All we have to do is get past those extremely powerful defenses and then… Well, no, then we'll have to get past _more _defenses, then her cell will probably have some sick lock on it. Then we need to get _back _through all these defenses without getting caught.

But mom says it wont be to dangerous for me and Bex. Because Bex and I have to wait outside.

Ahhh! How infuriating.

Anyways. Back to the present. Just then, the plane landed. Its now dark outside, probably two in the morning. The moment we had all clambered out, the plane took off again. We all quickly split up, and left on our separate paths into the city without a word.

Me and Bex started immediately toward the city. It was such an… exotic place. Very beautiful. But we weren't here for site seeing- sadly. We turned our comms on, and then began walking through a back alley toward where we knew the top of the Circle's underground building was.

It was next to the river, under an apartment building. We walked around it, but there really didn't look like there was anything extraordinary. Except for all the miniscule security cams just about everywhere. They had set up a very good surveillance system, able to see anyone unusual visiting the building. We walked past it, not wanting the cameras to be able to see us paying to much attention.

Suddenly, the comm. in my ear sparked a little static, the sound of someone turning theirs on, and then there was people talking on the other end. I knew that they were the Circle. Me and Bex exchanged a silent glance (how could a glance be anything but silent?) and then listened intently to the words being exchanged.

"Joseph Solomon." The first voice said coolly. By the sound of it, it was someone who was extremely spy-worthy. I had a lot of experience with people like that.

"You know what we're here for," Says one of our agents. I know her name… No wait, I don't. Ah well.

"Yes, we do. It seems that you have come for Miss Max Ride. We know."

"So, you are going to hand her over, Alastair?" Mr. S asks.

"Would you believe me, if I said yes?" Spy-dude Alastair says.

"No, I wouldn't." _Neither would I, _I think. No way would I trust anything the Circle's weasel

"Well, you'd have your right in assuming that. But how about we rendezvous tomorrow, and we hand little miss Ride back over to the Gallaghers?" _Weasel says what? _Did he just offer to hand Max back? That means we won't have to rescue her… I have to say, I am disappointed.

"No, I don't believe you. You've had her for barely thirty six hours. Why would you give her back?" Mr. S's question is with a pause, but it was a pause that went on just a bit too long. My years atGallagherAcademywould have been wasted if I didn't recognize a lie when I saw one.

"Well, we don't want her anymore. We've got bigger fish to fry atGallagherAcademy. Do you want her or not?"

"When," Asks the other agent of ours. "And where."

"Two days. Same place, same time. You only send two, though. Not the whole fleet that came with you."

"How many off you will there be?" One of our agents asks.

"That's none of your concern. Now, let's call this meeting complete. I've got a _very _busy schedule."

"You sure you want to hand her over?" Solomon says. Why the hell is he asking that? Does he _want _the Circle to keep her? I certainly don't.

"Solomon, I know what I am doing. However much you suspect me, this is going to be a clean trade. We hand Max back over. You leave our territories. I would shake hands with you if I didn't expect Morgan to shoot me." Oh yeah, that spy's name was Morgan. Now I remember.

"We'll be there," Solomon says firmly.

"Well then, see you all later." Through the comms I could hear the sound of Alistair walking away. I picture his shoes in my mind; the stereotypical shiny, black, sophisticated, spy-y shoes. After a moment, Solomon talks.

"So, what do you think?"

* * *

**Thanks for reading! Really, really want you to review. Besides, in the last chapter I said if you wanted to read on you'd have to review. Now, I'm not in a position to make threats like that, so please, PLEASE review! It makes me s-s-so h-h-happy *starts fake crying* d-don't you want your author to b-be h-h-h-h-happy?**

**God, I am pathetic.**

**Thanks for reading again! Lurb u all! (that means Love, for the people who don't speak Laila-ish. Which means... everyone? Yup!)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry it took so long, I was having a writing block due to post-Harry Potter depression.**

**But now, Enjoy the next chapter!**

* * *

"Hey, what do I have to do to get some food around here?" I ask to my empty room. I'm still in the interrogation room, as I have been for the last, oh I don't know, _five hours. _And I'm getting a little/extremely starving. I mean, I've been without food for longer, but I haven't eaten in twenty four hours! That means one hungry Max.

While I was in here, they darkened the windows so I couldn't see into any of the other rooms (I didn't even know they could do that!), and so I had to be bored once again in my cell. Grr.

The door opens, and I look up hopefully. Dysk is back, and behind here are some people wheeling in a big fancy cart with silver platters on it. This looks promising.

"Now, Max," Dysk starts, and I sigh internally. Does she always have to speak? Its bad enough I have to _look _at her. No, just kidding. Well… "Before you can eat, you've got to do something first."

"What would that be?" I ask cautiously.

"We need to see your wings." _Of course they do, _I think.

"Right, quality control," I mumble. "I'll need a knife." Dysk looks at me cautiously, but finally pulls a switchblade from her pocket. I pop it open, reach behind me (don't ask how I did that. I guess I can just roll my arm right around.), and cut two long slits in the fancy dress that I am still wearing. I am going to definitely need a new pair of clothes.

I sigh, and then slowly let my wings out. Then I sigh again, in relief. I'd gotten so used to them being against my back that I had forgotten how it felt for them to be relaxed. I stretched them further, to their whole impressive 15 feet, and they seemed to fill the room. Dysk's eyes widened, and she nodded, as if agreeing with herself. Weird lady.

"Well, can I get my food now?" I ask, because if I was hungry before, I'm starving now. Don't ask me why.

"Yes. Yes," Dysk says, nodding once to the two people who brought in the cart, and the three of them scurry out of the room.

I jump off my table, walk over to the platters, and take my pick of the huge amount of food that is available. Then, I happily eat, not focusing on anything but my fancy chicken and fancy salad and fancy chocolate-chocolate cake. It's definitely not what I suspected them to give their prisoner-servant, or whatever they call me. I have no idea what the technical term is.

When I am done eating that, I get seconds. And thirds. And fourths. Hey, I haven't eaten for a whole day! And besides, this is _me _we are talking about. Yes, I think you know what I mean.

When I am done, someone takes the cart back, and I wait once again. Thankfully, _this time _I don't have to wait as long.

Soon enough, that guy who met me when I first came in here –Alastair- comes in, looking just as spy-y as before.

"Tell me, Max," he says, without as much as a 'hi' or a 'hello,' or a 'how was dinner?' So rude… Actually, I'm just joking, I really couldn't care less. "Do you think there is anyone coming for you?"

I shake my head. "Nope." Agent Dysk asked me the same question just a few hours ago. I wonder why they think the answer would change. Its not like I am getting calls from Gallagher Academy in here, am I?

"Well, you'd be wrong." I sit up from my reclining position on the chair, and raise an eyebrow.

"As in what?"

"As in a team of nine agents and four students have come from Gallagher Academy to collect you." Woah. My mind was reeling. Gallagher Academy sent out people to get… me? Really? Well, this was a surprise.

"And how would you know that, Alice?" I ask. I have no idea why I called Alastair Alice. Maybe it's just that whole thing with Joey **(Mr. Solomon if you guys forgot the incident) **was coming back to me. Spy-dude's eyes narrowed, obviously not liking being called a woman's name.

"Because, _Maxie-_" Wow, we are feeling petty today. "-We met up with them forty-seven minutes ago. We are going to trade you back over to them." My eyes widen.

"Why?" I gasp before I stop myself. Why the hell would they just send me back? Didn't it take _any _effort to get into Gallagher Academy? I would think it took couple months planning, in the least.

"Of course. How else are we supposed to get you back there to snatch the file from them, hmm?" Oh yeah. I remember. I am now no longer Max Ride but more like Maximum Ride, the new slave to the Circle. Yeah, that's what happens when you threaten me. Because it seems that I am not unbreakable after all. You learn something new every day.

"I see. When is this going to happen, again?"

"In forty-eight hours, which is two days." _Like I didn't know how long forty-eight hours is,_ I scoff in my head. "That should be enough time to fill you in further on your mission, and drill your lines into you. It should also give you enough time to equip you with the knowledge you will need to get into Sublevel 2 at the Academy. Now you are here, we realize that you were too inept for this project, and we have not the faintest clue why Batchelder sent you in." I narrow my eyes. _Rude much? _ "But we've got you in on the game now, and I am sure that you will pull through for your… flock." Yes. My flock.

"Can I see them?" I ask after a moment. Alastair raises an eyebrow.

"That is all you will be able to do. We do not allow our prisoners to mingle."

"I thought I'm now an agent or something?" I challenge. He smiles.

"Of course, _Agent _Ride." Ooh, that's a cool name. "But I am afraid that they are sleeping. It's three in the morning." Oh. I guess it is. How should I've known? I don't have a watch on me. "Don't worry about it, Ride, you'll see them tomorrow." _I'd better, _I growl to myself.

_Max, growling is unattractive. _What the heck?

_Who asked _your _opinion, Voice? _I sneer.

_Stop worrying about the flock, they're fine._

_And how on earth would you know that? _The voice is quiet. Ha. That'll teach him. Calling my growling unattractive…. Huh!

"Okay," I say to Alastair after I'm done with my internal conversation. "So… What now?"

"Now, we'll have someone show you where your room will be for the next two days, so you can sleep." I nod. Sleeping sounds like a good option.

After following some random person through the labyrinth of dark (and I mean pitch black) halls, I get to my room. I don't remember exactly how, but before I know it I am asleep.

I must have been _really _tired.

The next morning, someone comes in to wake me up. Initially, I don't move, but then I hear the familiar voice of Agent Dysk.

"Get up, girl. We've got a lot to cover over the next few days, and we don't have time for pointless things like _you."_

_Well, that's not nasty or mean at all, _I think sarcastically.

She leads me out of the room, and we join Alastair and those other two spies that had been with him when I woke up- Mr. Timn and Asraa- who are sitting at a desk, examining documents.

"Morning, Ride," Agent Asraa says coolly, not looking up from her papers. "Are we starting now?"

"Um, can I get breakfast by any chance?" I ask tentatively. Asraa scoffs.

"Later. You've already slept in late enough."

"What time is it," I ask indignantly. I hadn't slept in _that _much!

"Eleven-hundred hours." Timn says.

"Whatever. Not my fault I went to bed at three," I mutter. "And it doesn't change the fact that I'm hungry." And I was. As always.

"Sorry, Max, but you'll have to handle it for a little while," Alastair says. "Sit down." I do, perching on the edge of my seat. I still don't really trust these people… "Dysk, go get the girl some coffee."

"I'm not an intern," Dysk snaps.

"Maximum here is a guest at this facility, so I expect you to do this for her. She needs a high-calorie intake daily, and will not function properly without food. Caffeine is the best solution here, while we have very little time to train her for her return to Gallagher Academy." Alastair says, sounding smart, and seemingly to know a lot about me. "You, Dysk, have nothing better to do. And I don't like you very much. So I am asking you to get the bird-girl some coffee." I glance up at Dysk's face, and see that she is livid. I smirk. _And justice is served._ Even if justice is only in the form of coffee.

"Extra cream, please," I say sweetly. She growls, and leaves the room.

"That went well," Alastair says, smiling slightly. I didn't take the man to be someone who recognized the annoying-ness of his coworker/agent, whatever it would be called.

"So, why am I in here?" I ask.

"For now, we are going to just start out with showing you the layout of the Academy," Asraa says, finally looking up from her papers, and sitting straighter (if that was possible- she was sitting _pretty _straight) in her chair. "You've got to learn how the surveillance system in the Academy works, as well as how to avoid it. Then we'll teach you some techniques as to how to get in."

And so I worked, for _hours, _learning all about the Academy's security. It was dinner when we were done. I was feeling a bit conflicted about this, I'll admit, but it's not like I had any choice. Flock came first. Besides, I was going to steal this thing for Jeb before, so really, my work at the Academy hasn't changed in description. Just given me more preparation.

The entrance to Sublevel Two was actually just about at the same place as the Sub One. After the retina scan, the appropriate elevator would open. You put your hand on the glass inside the elevator, like you did in Sub One, and that gets confirmation. Then, if you are allowed to go into Sub Two, you get the purple light as confirmation, and go down. After a DNA scan, you are in.

At first, it didn't seem like there were too many problems. I already did the first two things to get into Sub One, but Asraa explained it wasn't like that. There were two separate lifts going to the different levels, and my eye-scan would only open the first one. So, I had to have everything about me be someone else. Again.

They had already chosen someone for me to impersonate; Amanda Lewis, who was a senior, though didn't look _too _off from what I did. So, unless they were suspecting something and took an extra look at the cameras, I should be able to pass as her. Timn gave me these contacts with the other girl's retinas imprinted on them, as well as a glove-thing to go over my hand that would help me go past the palm-scan, and a weird extra-finger to put over my left index for my DNA test.

"Max, we've taken weeks to get these items exact enough to match Gallagher's systems. Don't take them for granted." Alastair warned. "You will only have one chance to get in, then out, and then _out. _As in, out of the Academy. You'll have to run, I'm afraid, and though that will be a dead giveaway as to who took it, we have no other choice. We need that file by ten days time, or we are all doomed. Which means you, and your flock, will also be doomed."

I suppose I had now resigned myself to the mission. I was able to remember everything they were telling me, which was odd, because I was never one for studying.

After dinner, I asked again to see the flock. For some reason though, they said I couldn't. They didn't want to distract me from learning what needed to be done, and after dinner, they whisked me away to test me on the layout of the Academy. It was seriously annoying that I couldn't see the flock, and I told Alastair this.

"Sorry, Max," he had said. "I promise they'll let you in the morning." But who was 'they?' And what right did they have of keeping the flock from me?

Well, I suppose the flock were a type of prisoners, and I guess I am too, but still! If I wanted to talk to Nudge, Gazzy, Angel, and see what happened to Iggy, then I would! And no one would stop me! Well, guess they could, but they wouldn't dare loose their precious spy. Would they?

I don't think I was easily dispensable in their ten-day file plan.

But I didn't get around to seeing them until lunch the next day. We were covering the details on how I would sneak out of Gallagher's Academy, when I asked for the fifth time that morning to see the flock. Once again, Alastair told me _no_, in a very exasperated tone. Why the exasperation? Surely _I _couldn't be annoying? I guess I can be.

Anyways, Timn simply cut Alastair off and said yes. We had both stared in shock, but he got up and gestured me to follow him. And that was how I was now staring through a window at the flock's room.

They were all there, sitting on one of the thin beds.

"So, I can just…" I trailed off, looking away from the window at Timn. He nodded, and I opened the door.

Angel, Gazzy, Nudge and Iggy all looked up (though he didn't look exactly at me of course), startled.

"Hi guys," I said weakly. This was the first time I had actually gotten to really talk to them since I arrived at Gallagher's Academy, almost two months ago. They were silent for a moment, staring at me in apprehension. What was wrong? I glanced over my shoulder to make sure no one had followed me.

"Max?" Nudge asked warily.

"Yeah, Nudge, it's me." I said this sort of faintly. Of course it was me! What, had they forgotten that we had been surviving together for most of our lives? I looked into their guarded faces. How could they not recognize me? Angel's face softened.

"It's her alright," Angel confirmed, and their faces relaxed.

"Who did you think it was?" I say, irritated.

"Max!" Nudge squealed. She and Gazzy jumped off the bed and tackled me with a hug. Angel didn't move, she and Iggy hanging back. Why? No idea. Of course, Iggy can't see me, and Angel had acted strange that day we met in Roseville.

"Max, we thought you'd never come!" Gazzy cried.

"Well, I did. It's great to see you guys," I said, and released the two of them. "Hi, Iggy. Angel." I walked over and gave them both hugs, then sat down next to Iggy. I smiled, relieved to be able to just see physical evidence that they were okay.

"Oh, Max, it was _awful," _Nudge wailed, sitting back down on the bed. "They questioned us over and over, and we told them the best we could, and then they dragged Iggy away for _ever, _and he only just got back yesterday!"

"Yeah, I saw him," I say guiltily. I glanced over at Iggy's stoic face.

"Why didn't you come sooner?" Angel asked, her sad little face making me feel terrible. I felt, not for the first time, regret that I hadn't ditched Jeb's little assignment and ran off after the flock.

"I had to finish my job for Jeb," I said honestly. "Don't worry though," I assured them all hurriedly, thinking that Jeb's job hadn't nearly been worth as much as the flock's safety. "I'm going to have you all out of here in no time."

"How?" Iggy asked dully. I hated seeing him all… melancholy. It made me die a little inside, if that doesn't sound too dramatic. Actually, yes it does. Forget I said that at all.

"Hey, don't doubt me," I said defensively. I thought back to what Timn had told me before I came in here, about making sure they knew nothing about the deal. "I arranged something. You'll all be out here by tomorrow, and you are going to go camp out at my mom's while I finish at Gallagher's Academy. Sounds good?"

"Sounds terrific," Iggy said, smiling for the first time.

For the next, oh I don't know, _three minutes,_ we talked a little before Dysk's came in to tell me I had to get back to work.

"Why?" I snapped.

"Work to cover, Ride," She sneered my name, but I just rolled my eyes. I sighed, and she ducked out of the room.

"See you guys later," I said. I had a moment of doubt; when _would _be the next time that I would see them?

"How much later?" Angel asked, reading my mind.

"Soon," I said, hoping that it wasn't a lie. "Bye," I walked to the door, and then a sudden bad feeling came over me. I know I am not the superstition type, but it was a _really _bad feeling. "Love you guys," I said quickly, before leaving the room.

That night, I prepared myself to go back to the Academy. I was feeling nervous, I'll admit it. They had given me clothes with weird little pouches on the inside so that I could smuggle all my new equipment into the Academy. They said something technical that I completely didn't understand, but I got the gist; that the items wouldn't be discovered.

While driving in the van to the rendezvous site with two unfamiliar agents and Alastair, he repeated the things that I would have to remember to me.

"You've only got nine days. Remember."

"Yes," I said. How could I forget?

"Make sure that you don't let them smell us on you," he said.

"What?" I asked, not understanding. Did Circle people have a specific scent that other agents knew and could smell out like hounds? I suddenly had this idiotic image in my mind of a bunch of spies spraying themselves with '_Cavan' _perfume bottles, while others had _'Gallagher' _bottles. My imagination...

"I mean make sure they don't even suspect that you've changed sides."

"Yeah, okay." I said. Of course that's what it meant. Duh.

"Remember, act shocked, tired, disheveled. Sag your shoulders down. You've just been _kidnapped, _don't forget."

"Hey, I'm not an actor, buddy." I said defensively.

"Try, okay Ride?" I sigh.

When we get out of the van, I try and act my best prisoner. It sort of doesn't feel right; I would never be all weary looking if I was captured, I would be like "Boo-ya, I am getting the Hell out of this place!" And besides, I never act weak.

So, I ditch the tips. All except one.

"See you, Alice," I say to Alastair as I begin to walk away.

"Don't smell," he reminds me under his breath, and as I walk over to the three dark figures on the bridge, I feel completely like a real spy.

Que theme music.

Ms. Morgan, Mr. Solomon, and Fang watch as Max walks away from her captors and across the bridge. Relief courses over them, though Mr. Solomon suspects that something is amiss.

"Welcome back, Miss Ride," Ms. Morgan greets warmly.

"Great to be back, Ms. M," Max said, smiling faintly. Though there was something in her look that made Ms. Morgan's spy senses tingle. But of course, the girl had just gotten back from spending three days as the Circle's hostage. It wasn't unexpected.

Max hugged Ms. Morgan, and then Fang, and then even Mr. Solomon. She must have been very relieved to be back.

Something was definitely wrong with Max, and Fang could tell. She didn't look at all like a prisoner; she looked in perfectly good health. Though, why did she keep flinching and looking down at her arm? What could have happened inside the Circle's HQ?

"You all right, Max?" He asked. She let out an exhausted sigh- but that didn't make sense, because she didn't look as though she had lost any sleep lately.

"As all right as I can be," She said.

"You will have to tell us everything that happened in there once we get back," Ms. Morgan said. "I still don't understand exactly how this could have happened right under our very nose.

"Were you treated to the evil villain speech?" Mr. Solomon asked mockingly. Max's laugh was a bit forced.

"As a matter of fact, I wasn't." Ms. Morgan frowned.

"That's too bad. Could've learned a lot." They walked off the bridge in silence.

"Where are we going?" Max asked. "If you don't mind, I am really, _really_ tired."

"Don't worry. We have a plane waiting for us to take us all back to the Academy," Mr. S said.

Once they arrived at the plane, the others from the mission greeted Max.

"Oh, Max," Ev had cried when she saw Max, who had frozen in surprise. "We were so _worried!"_

Max was surprised at how many people had turned up to get her. Even Cammie and Bex.

It made her feel… almost happy.

Almost, because actually being happy would be too cheesy.

When they got off the plane, back at Gallagher Academy at last, Max had stood for a moment just looking at things. Fang walked up beside her.

"Nice to have you back, Max."

"Great to be back." She repeated the words that she had said before, and quickly walked inside.

Fang frowned.

There was definitely something wrong with Max.

* * *

**Thanks once again for reading**

**These chapters are beginning to get a little slow. Actually, its been like that for a while now... I'd better mix some things up.**

**Is Max beginning to seem a little out of character, or is it just me?**

**-Laila**


	9. Author's Note

Hey everybody!

First off, thank you, to everyone who is reading this, and to those who Favorited and put me on their story alert. You guys ALL rock.

I know you all will be angry because you thought this was actually a chapter, and I am really sorry, because I hate when that happens too. But I have to write this, so bear with me.

Don't think I am slacking off updating or anything, because I was honestly going to update weeks ago. But, my computer completely crashed and there is nothing I can do about it, and I am probably going to have to buy a new computer (though I don't know how I'll managed that, cuz I'm broke :P). I lost all my documents, along with a whole bunch of really important things. So, I am going to have to re-start the next chapter from scratch, and it will be hard to get time on a computer to write (right now I am using the library's). So, it will be at least two weeks before I update. Sorry! Life happens.

I just wanted to make sure you guys didn't think I was forgetting the story!

Thanks for listening! (or reading, or whatever) You guys are awesome

-Laila


	10. Chapter 10

**Sup readers!**

**Thanks to everyone who waited for this chapter, and also to the couple of new people who put me on their favorite's list. You all gave me the motivation to finish this!**

**So, enjoy!**

* * *

When I woke up in my suite the first day back at Gallagher Academy, I felt oddly cheerful.

_Snap out of it Max. _Darn, the Voice is back.

_Snap out of what? _I asked.

_You are only going to be here for a week. Don't get too comfortable._

I rolled my eyes internally. Yes, folks, you can do that. Well, maybe you can't, but _I _can. Cuz I'm Max Ride. Boo-ya.

Just kidding. Something is seriously off with me today.

I got up, checked the time (really too early. My sleep schedule must've been messed up), brushed my teeth (because I want to take advantage of extra time for hygiene), and did other morning-things.

'Round seven-thirty, I went down to breakfast.

And can you believe it? I _skipped _down the stairs! Me! I stopped immediately.

Darnit, Voice was right! I'm way in a funk.

After that, I walked down the stairs like an ordinary individual. That is, until someone spotted me, and I had to stop. That someone being Liz from Cammie's possie. I wondered why she hadn't been with Cammie on my rescue mission.

Woah, hold the train- did I _expect _people to come running after me when I was in trouble?

Well, I shouldn't.

"Max!" Liz squealed, and I was tackled in a completely unexpected hug.

"Good morning to you, too," I said slowly. She released me- fewf!- and beamed at me.

"I'm so glad to see you back, Max." She didn't let her smile fall off her face, even when talking. Blindingly cheerful.

"I didn't know you were worried about me," I mumbled, not sure exactly what I was _supposed _to say. I spotted Macey standing behind Liz.

"Hey," I said.

"Hi," she said, nodding an acknowledgement. "I see you're safe."

"Safe as houses." Why did I say that? I don't even know what it means. Silly Max. Whatever. I grinned, and glanced back at Liz. "Are you two going down to breakfast?" I needed to get this meeting over with, so I could get myself some food. I was famished.

"We're actually running back up to the dorm for a mo," Liz said apologetically. I nodded.

"Cool. See you later."

As I walked down the rest of the stairs, it seemed as though Liz wasn't the only one who had noticed my absence. Some people who I didn't know smiled & waved at me, and as I walked to my seat at breakfast, a few girls from my class clapped me on the back, welcoming me home.

It was almost as though... I belonged.

What an odd sensation. Totally alien. Though, it is definitely the longest time I'd stayed in one place.

And I kind of felt like I belonged here too.

_Stop feeling so sentimental, Max, _the Voice said sternly. I ignored it.

Going back to classes was much of the same thing that had happened at breakfast; my teachers welcomed me back, and a couple of people asked what happened inside the Circle's HQ. I told them I had been too drugged up to remember anything.

I was sort of avoiding Fang. I hurried from one class to the next, making sure he didn't get the opportunity to talk to me.

Why? Well, my recent change of positions left me in an odd spot. I had two options.

A) Tell Fang about the deal. He could help me, plus, I don't like to keep secrets from my best friend. The downside to this option is that I don't know how he will react. He probably won't like the idea of giving the file to the Circle, who are, after all, the people who kidnapped the flock. I don't know if Jeb convinced him to work against them, but, Jeb might've. And, believe it or not, I don't like fighting with Fang.

Or option B) Lie, and say that nothing happened while I was in the Circle, the same thing I have been telling everyone else. This has some drawbacks; as I said before, I don't lie to my best friend. But, it would make more sense, since I have only enough equipment for one. But, I would also have to tell him when I am leaving; otherwise he would be stuck at Gallagher's Academy alone. And if I told him we were leaving then he'd want to know if I had gotten the file- and how. So, the lie would be pointless.

Since I didn't want to go with either option, I chose to simply avoid Fang as best I could.

That night, I started thinking about my plans. Logically, I should be doing it as soon as possible, but my subconscious was making me want to stay, and affecting my planning abilities.

_What planning abilities? _Voice chimed in. _Face it, Max, you're just a puppet in their hands. _

_Shut it, Voice, _I said sternly.

Two days, I decided. The day after tomorrow, I would execute the plan. The sooner my flock is free, the better.

Going to class the next day was a little tense. Well, it was for me, though I didn't let anyone see it. I was a spy among spies.

I decided to do it around lunch time the next day. Amanda Lewis's (The girl who I am impersonating, remember?) class is going to be doing some field work in CoveOps the same time that I have lunch break. So they'll be out of the class room, I won't have to draw any questions from missing a class, and hopefully it won't seem too suspicious for Amanda/me to be going down into Sub 2. Then, if I get out and all went smoothly, I can just glide back into my daily routine. And then tomorrow night, I'll sneak out of the Academy using the secret passage Ev told me about way back at my second week here.

Okay, now I've got my plan. A firm, solid plan. Almost a brand-new concept for me. Ha-ha, just kidding. I always have a plan. Pfft. Pfft.

When the bell interrupts my silent planning, I get up and stroll through the hallways to lunch, making sure I don't look too brood-y. I am still wound up pretty tight, though, and a little nervous that someone might notice my strange mood.

So, when someone pokes me in the back -hard- I nearly jump out of my skin. And I would have, if that was possible. It's just an idiom, though.

Look at me, getting off topic with big words I don't know crap about.

I whipped around, ready to karate-chop whoever dared disturb my calm facade.

Just my luck, it was the one person I was avoiding; Fang. I probably can't karate-chop him unless I want a full out battle on my hands. I wonder who would win in a match of me VS Fang... haha, I am so funny. Obviously I would win. That's why I am the boss.

Now, back to business.

"Yeah?" I say nonchalantly. I look at Fang's face; he is annoyed, I can tell you that much.

"I've been trying to get your attention for the past five minutes," he says. Really? I didn't know I even _could _be that oblivious. Gallagher Academy has run me soft. I shrug, as though it's no biggie.

"I was lost in thought," I say sarcastically.

"That's probably because it's an unfamiliar territory," he says. Well, someone is feeling sassy today.

I roll my eyes. "So, what do you want?"

"Stop avoiding me," he says. Aw man, he caught onto that.

"I haven't been avoiding you," I deny. Deny, deny, deny, baby. He gives a sigh of frustration.

"You just got kidnapped a few days ago, and you barely seem worried. You haven't said two words to me since you got back. _And, _you're not paying attention to anything. Something obviously happened that you aren't telling me." I stare at him for a moment. He actually looks genuinely worried, under all that un-expression. Huh.

"Wow, Fang, when'd you become so articulate?" I say, smiling a little. He doesn't look amused.

"Wow, Max, when'd you learn what 'articulate' meant?" he said. Damn. I rolled my eyes, and then decided this pleasant banter had gone on too long. Should I tell him? I can't stand not to. You don't lie to someone you've known your whole life, trust- and maybe even love.

Wait a second, where'd that come from? _Max, you need to get medical help to cure the place where these ideas are coming from_, I tell myself. I dismiss the thought as an insecure moment of insanity.

Back to conversation at hand. I decide that I'll sorta tell him the truth.

"Listen, Fang," I say, in my best let-me-handle-this voice. "Something has happened over the course of the last few days that I don't really want to talk about. But, I can promise you this- we are going to be out of here in no time. In fact," I say, thinking of my plan, "Meet me after dinner, tomorrow night. In my room. We'll be gone before anyone notices the difference." Fang looks at me, and I look right back. Dang, it's really annoying that he's taller than me. I'm going to have to get myself some 8-inch heels.

Ha, As if I'd be able to pull that off.

We are still staring at each other, and so, to help him decide to trust in my judgment- something that hasn't gotten itself much reason to be trusted in the time we've known each other- I give him a sarcastically-reassuring smile,  
I must look super ridiculous, because Fang laughs once at me. Actually laughs! Give me the new title of 'Max the Miracle Worker.'

"Alright, Max. If I wasn't sick of this place, I wouldn't let you off the hook." I frown slightly, before dismissing the slight on my almost-home. "But I will; and you'd better explain things once we get out."

"Thanks," I say, genuinely smiling now. "And don't worry. I got this."

"Sure you do, Max."

"Hey, don't doubt! I never lie to my friends." And it seems that that's now been proven true.

After my conversation with Fang was over, I continued over to lunch, I felt distinctly cheerful. Now things were right between me and Fang. Plus, food- how could you _not _be happy?

I couldn't see EV, Katy, or JJ, so I sat down next to Cammie & Co.

"Hey guys," I said.

"Hi, Max," Bex said. "How you doing?" I knew she was really asking if I was feeling okay after getting kidnapped, and I tried to put her worries at ease. Because it seemed that people were genuinely worried about me now-a-days.

"Fine, I guess," I said shrugging. "Not like it's never happened before," I say wearily, trying to play up the kidnapping-takes-a-lot-out-of-a-person angle.

_"What?" _Cam said, and Liz spat out her orange juice.

"You've been kidnapped before?" Bex asks, staring at me. Whoops, said the wrong thing- again. Even if it was the truth.

"Never you mind," I said, trying to smooth it over. This incident would come back to stab me in the back if I wasn't careful, and let them get too suspicious.

"You know, Max, I'm not even going to _try _and figure you out anymore," Macey said in a bored voice, reaching for the chocolate milk.

... ... ... ...

Glove? Check. Contacts? Check. DNA finger-thing? Check.

I took a deep breath, and went out of the bathroom, into the flow of students.

I double checked my watch, making sure I was exactly on time. I couldn't afford to go down into Sub 2, if Joey and the seniors were still down there. But no, my watch was perfectly on time; as was the Gallagher Academy's schedule. They would have been out of there exactly three minutes ago.

I made sure to keep my head down, and not let anyone drag me into a pointless conversation _now. _That would ruin the whole operation. I was too nervous to do anything.

_Relax, Max._

_Shut up, Voice. _I was relieved that it didn't say anything more.

No one was in the hallway with me, now. Everyone had already hurried to lunch, or to their class. Always rushing to be on time, these spies were. It was sort of like their Achilles heel, if you think about it. They were at a disadvantage, because I knew for a fact, from experience, that there would be absolutely no one in the halls if I timed it right.

The eye scan went first, and an elevator slid open from nowhere on my left. I stepped into it calmly, trying to act as though I was actually a senior who came down here practically every day. I placed my palm on the shining wall, and hoped that it wasn't too sweaty and make some scanners go off, or that my heart beat wasn't faster than normal. Thankfully, the confirmation of the purple light went off, and I relaxed a little.

Then, I took a few deep breaths, because I _hated _elevators.

When it came to a stop, a needle popped out of the smooth wall, and I knew it was for the DNA test. I winced just from seeing it. Great, the two things that could have made my nerves worse; small spaces and needles. I swallowed my nervousness, and pricked my left index finger on it.

I passed.

I rushed out of the elevator as soon as the doors opened, and breathed a sigh of relief; both from being out of there _and _from actually having the plan go so well! I mean, I was in Sub 2 now, wasn't I?

Yes, I was.

I walked down the silent hall, looking left and right for the door that I knew would take me to all their secret files.

I found it, and went inside. It was pitch black, and not a singe beam of light was seen after I closed the door behind me. But I had prepared for it. I pulled out a flashlight, and after that was lit my night vision kicked in.

I scanned the files; I was looking for E. E...E...E.. E! I looked down the row with the E's, and frowned; there were a lot. And, I would have to make sure I was back upstairs in only a few minutes, when the halls would once again be perfectly clear.

But it wasn't that hard; in fact, I found it after just a little searching.

_File East._

I couldn't help myself, and glanced inside. It looked a little like... like those profiles that they had passed out to us, back at the disastrous Ball only a week ago. Only more detailed. There were at least three pictures of the same person in extremely good disguises on every profile, and multiple names under each one. Addresses were also listed, as well as what looked like relations. And there were more mundane things; habits, pet peeves, and things that made an individual. If you were looking for someone, this would be your ticket. There were six profiles.

I snapped the file closed, and stood up. I tucked it safely into my backpack. I was running out of time.

I hurried back into the hallway, past the suffocating elevator, and out. Out! I had done it. The halls were clear. Or were they? I felt an odd feeling at the back of my neck, and turned around.

"Who do we have here?"

_Crap._

* * *

**I just can't wait to write the next part. This is going to get EXCITING!**

**BTW, this is called Chapter 10, because I hate it when the chapter count and the number of the actual chapters gets off.**

**Please review with any comments you've got, especially if you have a suggestion for my writing style. I'm all ears! Not literally, of course. **

**And I hope I haven't let Max get _too _scatter-brained in this chapter, though I think she is a little.**

**-Laila**


	11. Chapter 11

**My God, its been long since I last updated! I am so sorry, guys! Its like you can't trust anything I say! I was really excited to write these parts, but its like I just couldn't get it right. And I know that I still didn't get it perfect, but I think its about time I post this chapter. I've also been reaaaally busy with school and all that jazz, so now I will let you read on!**

**I own nothing :)**

* * *

"Who do we have here?"

_Crap_.

Six people are standing behind me in the hallway. Cammie, Bex, Macey, Liz, that dude Zach, and Fang. Fang looks really pissed.

"Hello there, Cammie," I say, trying to be casual. "What in the world were you doing down in Sub 2?" Bex says angrily, walking up to me. I try and catch Fang's eye, trying to tell him that I had the file and we needed to go, now, but he was busy having a glare-off with Zach.

"Nothing in particular," I say, taking a step back from her. Personal space, please.

"We saw you come out of the elevator!" Cammie accused. "And you don't have clearance to go down there." This got me angry. What business of hers was it if I went into places where I shouldn't? Oh, wait a second. They were the nosy-gang. I forgot.

"How would you know?" I hissed, and took a step toward her menacingly. "There are a lot of things you don't know about me Cameron Morgan." Ooh, I sound... cheesy. I need to get some new lines.

"I know that you shouldn't be down there!" She began, equally angry. This might just turn into a fight- that I would win. "And I also know a lot of weird things have been happening here since you started attending school here. Who the hell are you, anyways?" Wow, she doesn't sound like Paris Hilton at all. Sarcasm.

Everyone looked at me, and I looked meaningfully at Fang. He got the message. "I am Max Ride. You know that, Cammie," I said calmly.

"Even your name is weird! And I am not the only one who thinks you are a little strange?"

"She's right," Zach said. Who asked him? Nobody, that's who. "There's something off about you."

"Even the way you walk," Liz agreed. "Even the way you talk,"

Macey added. "And Nick-" Oh yeah, Fang "-is just the same. Who are you guys?" Oh crud cakes, they're figuring it out. I think it's time to blow this popsicle stand.

"We're just abnormal people, going to an abnormal school, okay?"

"What were you doing in Sub 2, Max?" Bex asked again. "And what's in your backpack?"

"I don't have to tell you anything," I said snarkily. I jerked my head at Fang, and then took off running.

Running, running, running- that was what I was used to. I could feel the adrenaline starting to seep into my blood, and I could hear the five pairs of footsteps pursuing us. Fang was right next to me, and I glanced over at his expressionless face. I turned a couple corners, and then exited the building through a side door. Fang was right behind me, but unfortunately so were those pesky spy-wannabes. Who knew they could run so fast? Oh, I probably should have known. Silly me.

It was time to bust the wings out, and fly, fly, fly!

All of a sudden, the door behind Cammie swung closed and locked. Then a blaring siren of "CODE BLACK! CODE BLACK! CODE BLACK!" Came out of the building. Someone must have figured it out. Fang glanced at me. "U&A?" he asked while we sprinted across the grounds. I hesitated to respond for only a moment, glancing back at the five pursuing us, before nodding.

I took a deep breath, jumping into the air. And then- Swoosh!

What a... fabulous feeling. Feeling the air rush past my wings was phenomenal. After all this time- two months- I was finally able to be free. I could feel freedom coursing through my veins! Yeah, right. But, I _was_ free of Gallagher Academy, and almost free of my job for the Circle.

We got up a couple hundred feet into the air, and Fang gave me a questioning look. I tossed my nearly empty bag at him, so he could see the folder.

Then something completely unexpected happened.

With my eagle eyesight, I saw something black shoot through the air. It wasn't a bullet, as far as I could tell, so I stopped flying for a second to get a closer look. That was the stupidest thing I did all day. I am such a dumb-butt. There was a pinching in my leg, and I looked down and saw the little black needle- the little black _dart_.

I could already feel myself getting... more... exhausted...

I could barely feel it when my winged body hit the ground.

Cammie's POV

30 seconds earlier.

I knew there was something wrong with the pair of them, I thought as I chased the Max around corridors. I always suspected something wrong. Why did I ever trust her? I shouldn't have.

I saw her disappearing through one of the side doors- her and that Nick Fang character that came with us on the trip to Amsterdam. I knew there was something fishy...I knew...

We all whipped out the door, only a couple of feet behind her now. Then, a wailing, "CODE BLACK CODE BLACK CODE BLACK" pierced the air, and I smiled because I knew that someone must have noticed her in Sub 2. It wasn't just me. If I could just tackle her, then help would come, and then...

My eyes had not left Max's back, so I saw immediately what happened, though I didn't comprehend it for a couple more seconds.

Two enormous light brown _wings_ sprouted out of her back. I stopped dead in my tracks, just staring, as she jumped into the air and started flapping. Nick was right behind her, and their _wings_ cast a great shadow over the lawn as they flew higher and higher.

"_What_?" I yelled out loud, absolutely shocked. _Wings_? Could wings have just sprouted out of Max Ride's back? All evidence said yes, but how? What was going on? A thousand thoughts ran through my mind that second. Was this a dream? It must be! It wasn't a dream though, that was for sure. I ignored all other thoughts, and was mainly aware that she was getting away. What a spy, really. And I just stood there, gaping like a fish.

For a moment, a stab of envy shot through my mind. I couldn't fly like that. I couldn't just get up whenever I want, and leave Gallagher Academy. I didn't have graceful wings. And for just a moment, I wished that I had wings, and not her. I wish that I was trusted to fill out important missions, and then simply fly away whenever I felt like. But only for a moment.

I was so confused with what I was thinking, that when Max fell out of the sky, I didn't realize exactly how that had happened for a full five seconds. Then I looked around for the source. Zach. He was holding a tracer dart gun, and watching Max fall without moving a muscle. He didn't even seem surprised that she had wings.

When Max hit the ground, I started walking toward her, but Zach grabbed my arm. "Don't touch her," he said. "This is out of our hands. We'll wait until someone comes outside." I nodded, and looked up at the sky. The other boy- Nick? Was that even his real name?- was hovering in the air, looking down at all of us. I bet he was wondering whether he could come back for Max. Well, if he was stupid enough to try his luck, we would get him. But, only a moment later, he flew away.

"Why didn't you shoot him, too?" Bex asked angrily, walking up behind me. "Why did you let him go?"

"I had to let one fly off to tell its little bird-buddies, didn't I?" He said smoothly. I thought it over... yes, it did make sense. If they wanted Max back, along with whatever she stole, they would have to come and get her. Here. To Gallagher Academy. It annoyed me for a moment how much better Zach was at this spy-stuff.

We didn't have to wait long for someone to find us. The whole school had been riled up by the Code Black that was still blaring, and someone must have noticed we were outside. It was Mom and Mr. Solomon who came out of the building.

"What happened?" Mom asked me first.

"We were outside the entrance to the Sublevels, and we were talking to Max's friend Nick," I explained, trying to keep it brief and informative. "Max came out of the elevator door to Sub 2. We knew she did not have authorization to be down there. She and Nick, who appears to be her accomplice, ran, and we took chase. Once we were outside, Max- "I hesitated for a moment. What if they didn't believe me? Well, if they didn't, we had Max right here in front of us to prove it. "Max sprouted wings, and took flight, along with her accomplice." Mr. Solomon gave us an inquiring look.

"Wings?"

"Look for yourself." I took a step back, so that they could have a full view of Max's unconscious form. It was the first time that I had ever seen Solomon look the slightest bit surprised. But, Mom just sighed.

"I still can't believe she has wings," I heard Liz say.

"Why is she unconscious?" Mr. Solomon asked.

"I tranquilized her, Sir," Said Zach. I can honestly say that I've never had to admit that I've tranquilized someone. But that's just me, not some Blackthorne boy.

"And the other spy?"

"I thought it better to leave him as a messenger, Sir." Mr. Solomon frowned, but asked no more questions.

"Let's get this girl into Sub 1. We can question her there. And where is the stolen file?" I looked Max up and down; sure enough, she didn't have her bag with her anymore. She probably gave it to Nick. I heard Bex curse under her breath.

"She must have handed it off," Macey said. "Alright, let's get this girl inside."

Liz and I carried Max between that. I repeat, me and Liz. How did we not notice Max was so light? And yet, she was basically made out of muscle. I could feel that through her shirt. We had to hold her carefully, so her ginormous wings didn't bump the sides of the hallway.

While we were making our way through the empty corridors (Everyone had been sent to their dormitories during the Code Black) my head was reeling with all the new information. And most importantly, perhaps- other than the fact that Max had wings-had my mom been in on the secret? I would ask her as soon as I put bird-girl down.

It creeped me out to hold Max unconscious. I had this weird feeling that I had killed a bird. Of course, I would never kill a bird. That's cruel. But, it felt like that. Weird pity-molecules were flooding my brain. Stop that!

In the room we keep for practice interrogations, we tied Max down to the iron chair.

Just as we were fastening the metal cuffs around her wrists, her eyes suddenly popped open. I swear, I jumped three feet into the air. She shouldn't have been able to wear off the tranquilizer for another four hours, at least! Her eyes focused on me.

"Ay," she said, sounding irritated, and slightly slurring her words. "Let me go!"

"Can't, Max," said Bex coldly. "You're not one of us anymore."

Max rolled her eyes. "This is unconstitutional! You cannot hold me against my will without an arrest warrant. Illegal, I say!" I don't even know where she was getting these ides. Bex and I walked out of the room.

"The thing is, Max," I said. I felt... almost smug, now that I had beat her. I knew something was wrong with her! And she duped the whole of Gallagher Academy. "We're spies. We don't care about laws."

"You know, I don't think my father would let me agree with that," said Macey once we were outside the room. Oh yeah, she's a government-girl.

"Don't worry, Cam was only trying to sound cool and dramatic," Liz said, grinning. I shrugged.

"Could you girls stop joking around? A theft has been played here at our school, and you seem not to care. If you don't have something of input to say, then go back to your dormitories." Mr. Solomon snapped at us. That shut us up. But not for long.

"Wait a second, I have a question," I said, looking at Mom. "Did you know about this? Did you know that Max was a bird?" We all looked at her.

"She is not a bird, Cammie. She is an avian-human hybrid. I did know about this, and I did knowingly accept her into our school. I thought, given her background, that she would excel at this school. I was wrong. She seems to be here, not to learn, but to endanger our spies."

"I can't believe you didn't tell me!" I said it so accusingly, that she winced. I was out of here. "Maybe we could have prevented this if you didn't try and keep so many secrets, and trusted someone's opinion other than yours. I'm going up to bed," I grumbled, before storming out of Sub 1 like a little kid.

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**I promise next one will have more of my best writing in it, not like this sorry excuse for a chapter. See you all later! Thanks for reading!**

**Loveeeeeeee- **

**Laila**


	12. Chapter 12

**It has been so long since I last updated! I put in the extra effort to get onto a computer to update this for you guys. I am so sorry that I didn't have the computer time to update this story regularly for you guys. To anyone who is still reading this (And I wouldn't be surprised if I have lost most of my readers), I am eternally grateful. You can ask favors of me at any time. To anyone who reviewed; I am sorry I couldn't reply to your messages, but I am just going to say that they gave me hope that people were still interested in my story! Love you all!**

**And happy New Year! I live in central time in USA, so I still have 28 minutes until 2012! Gah!**

**So, without further ado, chapter 12!**

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Max POV

I can't believe my luck. How could I have gotten captured? Really, _how? _Am I just that terrible of an escape artist?

I suppose I am. But no matter.

Now here I am, strapped to an interrogation chair, while my super-sensitive ears lets me hear the mumbling going on on the other side of the glass. Unfortunately, I still can't hear clearly enough to tell what the heck they are talking about. How infuriating.

I now reflect on my partially miserably failed plan. There wasn't anything else I could have done to get away, right? I did my best. At least I got Fang the file; although, now I think on it, he'll probably give it to Jeb. I should have told him the plan! What the heck is wrong with me? This is what I get for not trusting people- namely, Fang. Now the Circle will accept me as a failure, and 'dispose' of the flock. I shudder just thinking about it.

Well, in the meantime, I'll just sit here as my legs go numb, and as I get hungry.

"Can I get something to eat?" I said out loud to no one in particular. I know you all think I am such a pig, eating everything I see, but I have been sitting in this room for an infinite amount of hours. Plus, I know these people have got food to spare.

Unfortunately, it seems to be against procedure to let your captives eat. There hadn't been that problem over at the Circle, but I suppose they knew how I operated better.

It was also a very uncomfortable chair. My wings were still out, and they were sort of smushed at an odd angle, and one of them had fallen asleep. It is really not a nice feeling, trust me. If you have wings, you'd know.

Eventually, Headmistress Morgan came in to talk to me.

"Hello, Max," She said, looking at me coolly. She had on her best poker face. I suppose it probably wasn't the first time someone has betrayed her. Although I am fairly sure that, as a spy, she never really trusted me in the first place.

"Why hello there," I said in a nasally voice. I didn't have anything to loose, and I knew that any respect for adults would be short lived.

"So Max," she said, ignoring me. _Rude. _"How did you become a bird kid?"  
_Way to be politically correct, Morgan, _I thought.

"Why would I tell you?" I said, squinting at her.

"Maybe because I asked," She said. I rolled my eyes.

"Sorry, Morgan, but that isn't how I work. You don't know anything about me if you think I am just going to spill my life story to you and the other fifty agents you've got waiting behind the glass."

"I must say, your wings are...quite impressive." She seemed to be ignoring my attempts to aggravate her, and changing the subject. I laughed.

"Don't try to appeal to my pride, because it is invested in better things than my wings."

"Like what?" She asked. "Your ability to remain stoic under torture?" Now she was going for the threatening side of the conversation. I laughed in her face again.

"You have no idea what types of torture I am able to stand, Morgan. Nothing in your little archive of pain devices will cave me. Besides, there is nothing that I know that you want."

"Actually, yes, there is. We have been carrying out an investigation on your time here in the Academy, and a certain detail that we had overlooked before has come to the front."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yes." Dang, she was hard to annoy. "During the first Cove Ops field mission of the semester, you interfered with the transmission from your microphone as well as your camera. It lasted for seven seconds. A Blackthorne boy you would know, Zachary Goode, has told us that he saw you talking to four other children. Care to shed light on the situation?" Damn Zach. He was too... Goode. Ha-ha I am so _pun-_ny. But really, how had he seen me? There hadn't been anybody around! I would call him a stalker, but in reality that is exactly what spies are.

"I would not care to, thank you very much."

"How do you know them, Max?"

"I, um... we're friends."

"Are you from the same group of underage spies?"

"As if," I snorted. "None of us have done any spy work in our life."

"Then how is it that you were so well adapted to our physical training when you first arrived here?"

"I like to kick things."

"Max, are they some type of family to you?" I stiffened for a moment, and I was almost sure my blank expression slipped. Aw poop.

"No," I said, trying to sound indifferent. "They were just there to report on investigations at home."

"They all seemed rather young."

"That's because we are children, Sherlock."

"Where can we find them?"

"Try the basement of the Circle's HQ," I said. "Knock three times to enter. The password is 'I am hungry.'" I rolled my eyes, not letting her see the truth in my words.

"Max, what were you planning on doing with the file once you had stolen it?"

"Gaze at it. Fathom what's inside. Wonder why it means so much to you." I gave her a funny look. "How do you know that it wasn't just a prank?"

"This is not a prank. No one can just troll our security and enter Sub 2."

"Well maybe I am a very accomplished trickster. You can never know with the bird kids."

"Max," She seemed to be losing patience. Good. "There is no reason for you to be interested in this file. If you help me in getting it safely back, I will give you my word that we will make sure you do not have to work any longer for the Circle. You will be safe."

"The thing is, Morgan, I have no choice. I _have _to get the file to them. And it is already on its way. There is nothing you can do to keep it from their hands. They have no more need for me, so if you have some hope that they'll give the file back in exchange for me, you are sadly mistaken. There is no reason for you to keep questioning me, or even using torture, because I have a lot of practice with withstanding pain. I also have absolutely no information that would be of use to you, so lay off me, and get me some food. All this sitting is really wearing me out." I finish my speech with an expectant look. She goes silent for a moment, and then walks out of the room.

I sigh. This is really not the situation I was imagining myself in at this time. I thought I would be at the Circle now, getting the flock out, and possibly flying away into the sunset. But it looks like fate has chosen another path for me. How disappointing.

Fang was worried.

Max was gone. Shot down with, by the looks of it, a tranq dart. He had had to leave her, and take the file back to Jeb. He hadn't done that just yet, but he was getting to it. He had landed in Roseville. He didn't know what to do, because he didn't want to face Jeb just yet. He knew Jeb valued Max a lot more than him- everybody did- and Fang didn't mind that, but Jeb would probably be disappointed that Fang had let Max get captured. Fang was already disappointed and frustrated with himself, and he didn't need Jeb to add on to that. It was Jeb's fault that they were in this mess anyways. Couldn't he solve his own problems without dragging the flock into this? Now look where it had landed them.

Fang was also aware of, though not necessarily worried by, somebody following him. He knew it was that Goode boy, the one who was always drooling over the Morgan girl. Fang didn't know how he had been found, but he just kept walking. He knew that he would have to confront the guy if he didn't want to be tailed, but he was delaying it. He wanted a real fight this time, one he was sure he would win. And that couldn't happen while Fang was standing in the middle of the Roseville square.

So, Fang walked off, bag in hand, into a back alley. He was furious with the boy who was tailing him; not only was he sticking his nose in other people's business, but he had shot Max. Who the heck shoots a girl? Actually, Fang knew a lot of people who did.

He stopped walking, and waited to hear the footsteps of Goode, before he turned around.

"Stop following me." Fang said coolly. He raised an eyebrow when Goode pulled out a gun.

"If you try and run, I will shoot you. First, throw the bag over."

"No." Fang wasn't going to be giving the file up any time soon. This boy would have to fight him for it. Fang stood perfectly still.

"Give it." Fang only glared at him. "Alright then, I see how it is." Goode took a step closer. Fang didn't move. Goode aimed the gun- and then something odd happened. He dropped it, looking confused. Fang realized what had happened a split second later; he had become invisible. Goode cursed.

"Damn those scientists," he muttered. "How many powers did they have to get?" Fang almost smirked. Then, he lunged for the gun.

Somehow, Goode had seen him coming, and whorled around, pushing Fang backwards. But Fang grabbed Goode's arm, and twisted it so that the gun was pointed at the ground. Goode broke his hold, and shot Fang in the foot.

The small wound was an explosion of pain, but it only made Fang angrier. He lunged again for the gun, and this time it clattered away onto the cement. Fang was now at an advantage, even though his foot was useless, because he knew that, in a test of speed and strength, he would win.

The fight went on longer than expected. The Blackthorne boy obviously knew what he was doing, and Fang had to try moves that he hadn't used in a while. Fang had a bloody nose, and a few broken fingers, but the other fighter had broken ribs. Fang finally twisted Goode's arm so violently that there was a sickening _pop_that rang across the alley. Fang took advantage of this, and pushed Goode hard onto the ground. Fang scooped up the gun, and aimed it at Goode.

"You are lucky I don't kill people easily," Fang murmured. He double checked that he still had the bag- yes, it was there. "And you should let Max go. She doesn't know anything." He didn't know where these words came from, but he didn't take them back. No, Max didn't know jack about the things Jeb was messing with.

Fang took off flying.

Cammie's POV.

"So, what's the verdict?" I asked finally. We had rerun the video of Max's interview, and analyzed every emotion that crossed her face. And let's say the main one there was annoyance. She was annoyed at my mom. She was annoyed at her failed mission. She was annoyed at having to do the mission in general. She was annoyed at the people at Gallagher Academy in general. She was annoyed at the lack of food in her cell.

The only time that she really cracked, even though it was only for a millisecond, was when mom had mentioned those other kids. The ones who Max said worked for the Circle as well. We had replayed that fragment of video so many times I had Max's face-twitch permanently etched into my brain.

"I don't think she is lying," Mr. Solomon said after a moment. "About anything, except that one part about those other children."

"Me too," said mom. "To make an educated guess, I would say that they are other bird children who she probably knows."

"I wonder how many the Circle has working for them," Liz wondered aloud. We all thought about that for a moment. From everything I had seen- excluding Max's failed escape attempt- I would say that bird children were a very good investment in spy-tech.

"Well, I think we should just hold her for a while. Maybe she will tell us something more, but I don't think she will. It's a pretty straight forward mission, and we know all the facts." Mr. Solomon began. "She was sent here to get the file. She probably was kidnapped by the Circle for a very dramatic progress update, or it could even be to increase our trust in her that she was not working in conjunction with them. Then, she stole the file, and she was probably planning on leaving the Academy through one of our many passages. Her mission was from the Circle. The Circle wants it so they can track our agents more easily." He sighed. "Right now, we really should be focusing on getting it back."

"Zach went after the other boy who he let get away. The bird kid landed in Roseville, you know." Bex said.

"That's good," Said Mr. Solomon. Almost on cue, the door opened, and in walked-

I almost gasped at how... beaten up Zach looked. It really came as a surprised that _anyone _could have done that to him. You may not have noticed this, but Zach is really good at all things spy. He was good at everything, actually, and when he shook his head and sighed at mom's expectant look, I knew that loosing was probably a first for him.

"I don't know what the hell is with those bird kids, but they fight like nothing I've seen before." He announced.

"I thought as much." Mom sighed. "Alright, let's get the recovery team called in. We can track the progress of Mr. Nick if we get on it quickly, before he lands again."

And the meeting dispersed.

Fang POV

Once he had put a good amount of distance between himself and Roseville, Fang stopped in a tree. He dug the bullet out of his foot, and fixed it up with a bandage, grimacing as the pain continued to stab through his body. He would heal, but bullets were nothing to joke about.  
He opened Max's bag. She had prepared, he noticed. It was well stocked with granola bars and trail mix. As he dug through it, seeing what else she had thought were necessary, he found two tickets. Plane tickets to Copenhagen, Denmark no less.

He realized that Max had never intended to take the file to Jeb. She was going to trade it directly for the flock. She didn't trust Jeb.

He stood up, ready to go look for a map and find the airport.

He didn't trust Jeb either.

_ _  
Max POV

When the iron cuffs around my hands and feet opened in a clang, I was very glad. My wings were still out and in an awkward position, and I sighed in relief after I straightened out the feathers, and pulled them loosely back together.

I noticed for the first time that, like in a prison cell, there was a small mattress on the floor in the corner. Very comfortable looking. I am being sarcastic, of course. But it was a start.

I wasn't so tired as to lay down; it was more like I was restless from sitting so long. I paced around the room, occasionally looking at the door to see if anyone would come in. It seemed not until it did open, and Cammie came in holding a tray of food. I noticed, sadly, that it was not nearly as much om nom as I would have liked. I supposed they didn't want me to be fully supported, and I could understand that. She handed it to me with a cold look, and left without a word. No cheerful greetings for Traitor Max I see.

I sat down on the bed, and happily ate my food, and then grabbed the can of soda that had been on the tray, and gulped it down. I was satisfied. I pushed the things off the mattress, and sat back against the wall. I let my wings unfold to reveal their awesomeness.

I don't know how long I sat there. A very long time. I drifted off to sleep, and when I woke up, there was a larger platter with enough food on it for a whole day sitting on the floor. Nobody came in for the whole day.

Or the next.

On the third day, I was getting worried. What if they were planning on simply leaving me down here to rot? They wouldn't do that, would they?

Maybe I underestimated how nice they were.

But that night- at least I think it was night, because I felt like sleeping- the door opened finally. And I saw the face that I had expected the least.

"_Nudge?"_

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**Once again, thank you all for reading. I don't even know when I will be able to post the next one. But I PROMISE that I will NOT forget about the story, no matter how tedious it becomes! Because I know that ALL fanfiction readers hate when their authors disappear from cyberspace.**

**And again: HAPPY NEW YEARS! I hope that this turns out to be the best of years for all of you! **

**3**

**-Laila**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hello everybody! This will be the last chapter in the _Me? Fly? Nah. _Story. I was hoping to do a lot more with this plot, but I am still pleased with how I have progressed as a writer through my first stoy. I decided to just finish it as is, so that I can stop worrying about dissapointing you all by not posting a chapter on here for ten weeks. I know that this story, and this chapter especially, is not really the quality of work that awesome readers such as yourselves deserve, but it is the best I can do.**

**Thank you all for sticking with me through this story! I am glad I was able to finish it.**

**And this chapter is _very _short, only about 1000 words!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing =D**

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"Nudge?" I said. She smiled at me half-heartedly, and walked into the room.

"Hi Max," she said. My eyes widened when Iggy, Gazzy, Fang, and Angel walked in behind her. I could tell from their expressions that something was off. Still, I was so relieved to see them. It had seemed like forever since I had visited them at the Circle.

"Wh... What are you all doing here?"

"We're here," Came a voice behind them. "To finish the deal." In walked Alastair, that spy for the Circle.

"How so?" I asked testily.

"Your bird-friend Fang, here, brought us the file. In return, we let them go. I am now here to break you out, and bring you back to base."

"What?" I asked in shock. I was going back to the Circle? Nuh-uh. No way.

"Remember when you said that you would be a spy for us?" He says. I nod, thinking back to how Iggy had been electrocuted. "Well that doesn't end here. I have ten other people waiting just outside the door to bring you back if you don't cooperate."

"I thought we had a deal! The file for us," I said angrily, walking towards him.

"We had a deal for _them. _Not for you. We have done a lot of research on you, Maximum Ride. We know you are meant to save the world. Whatever powers you may have, we aren't going to let you simply slip out of our grasp. Your little friends can leave, but not you."

I did promise that I would be a spy for them, I realize. Am I going to have to go back on my word? They did let the flock go...

Of course I'll go back on my word. I never get anything good out of keeping promises made to adults anyways.

_You can take their people, Max. _I hear the voice ring in my head. _You've taken much worse._

Yeah, that's true. I mean, what are a couple of spies compared to a hundred flyboys or erasers?

_Just divide and conquer. _

As we all slowly walked out the door, I was completely surprised that there weren't a few unconscious bodies lying around the floor. I mean, didn't Morgan leave _anyone _to guard me? I guess I am just not that important.

There were ten spies waiting to escort us out of the academy, just as Alastair had said. Ten men and women, dressed in black, armed to the teeth. Hand-to-hand combat is much more of the flock's thing; guns don't go down well with us. I know that we would have to attack quickly if we didn't want to get shot.

I thought the plan as hard as I could, hoping that Angel would realize what I was trying to do, and pass the word on to the others. As soon as we were out in the open, we could start the assault.

I really, really didn't want to be a spy for the Circle.

I made eye contact with each of the flock (Well, except Iggy), and tried to relay the plan. I think they got it.

We stepped out of the building into the purple-orange light of dawn. The sun was just rising. I spotted a chopper waiting for the Circle on the Gallagher landing pad.

"Now!" I said, and then sprang into action. The spy standing in front of me ducked, but I still was able to knock him down. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the others taking down agents left right and center.

As I fought, I also saw Alastair loading up a dart gun. Oh no, I was not going to be tranquilized again.

I knocked the gun out of his hand, and started fighting hand-to-hand. He did have a lot of experience, I could tell. But I, being smaller and faster, had the upper hand. I finally kicked him in the chest, and he lost his breath for second, allowing me to knock him out cold. I felt satisfied.

"U and A!" I called, and took off into the air. It took a second for me to stay stable, because I hadn't had a running start, but I got there. Soon, all six of us were in the air, flying away from Gallagher Academy as fast as bird-kids can go. We had left three agents still conscious on the ground, and I was well aware that their helicopter might be on our tail in only a few moments.

There was a sudden _crack! _in the morning air. I looked down, and saw-

It was over in only a few seconds. One bullet had lodged itself in Nudge's wing. She cried out in pain, and started falling. I swooped down and grabbed her.

"Iggy, help," I grunted. I couldn't move fast carrying her by myself. Iggy grabbed her other arm, and we flew off, never looking back.

Later that evening, when we had found somewhere to stop in Ohio, I sighed in relief. Yes, Nudge had been shot. I know how getting hit in the wing can feel, so I knew that it definitely not fun for her. But at least we were out of there. I was free from my 'mission.' We were all free from the Circle. We were back on the road, like we usually are. At least it was familiar. At least we were all safe, and all together.

"Why didn't you take the file to Jeb?" I asked Fang. He shrugged.

"Just had a feeling."

"Well, good thinking. And thanks. I am glad we are out of there."

"Me too."

And that is how the Gallagher episode was closed. I had no idea what would come next, but I will bet you a thousand dollars that it will be dangerous.

* * *

**Now that's over. Thank you all, once again, for reading! Thanks so much! You don't even know how much thanks there is to be given here! :D**

**Thanks!**

**Thanks! **

**I hoped you liked the story! Any tips for writing will always be well appreciated by me. **

**THANKS!**

**Goodbye, my friends!**

**-Eternal Love And Friendship, Laila :D**


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